Avatar: The Parallels
by Umbreon56
Summary: Twin brother and sister Riker and Kandace are caught in a storm and when they wake up, they find themselves in the world of Avatar. How much of the plot will they change? What characters will capture their hearts? What happens when the show ends? Read to find out!
1. Prologue

"Riker!" An unnecessarily loud voice split the air. A sixteen-year-old girl practically ran the door down as she entered her brother's room. She had frizzy brown hair and ecstatic blue eyes. She was wearing an Adventure Time T-shirt and a Pikachu hoodie. She looked excited. "Will you watch the season finale with me, please, please, pretty please?"

"No." Riker didn't know what show she could have been talking about. It was either Pokemon, Adventure Time, or she was re-watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"But I didn't even tell you which show it was!" She protested. She pulled her Pikachu ears down to make it look like they were drooping in sadness. Riker sighed and looked back at his computer screen, where he was busily slicing some zombies on minecraft. "It's your favorite!" She tried to convince him. "Avatar: The Last Airbender! Sozin's Comet: Parts One, Two, Three and Four!"

"I've watched Aang beat Ozai a thousand times… I don't feel like it."

"What about Zuko fighting Azula? That part's interesting too!" The girl continued her fruitless efforts to convince her brother to watch the show with her.

"Kandace, you only think it's interesting because you have a crush on Zuko." Riker muttered. He knew that his sister would keep bugging him until he watched it with her, but he would hold it off for as long as he could. "Besides, I have a butt load of homework to do." Riker explained as he sliced another zombie with his diamond sword. "Level 65!" He exclaimed.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Kandace asked.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Riker retorted.

"It was a hypothetical question." Kandace stated flatly. "I know that minecraft isn't part of your homework and you know that I won't leave until you watch it."

"You can stay, just don't bother me." Riker replied. Kandace smiled evilly. Riker was too involved in his game to notice his twin's evil smile. His brown eyes remained focused on the computer screen. Kandace slowly walked up to his computer and slammed it shut, pinching his fingers beneath it. Riker let out a shout of pain and glared at his twin. "Fine." Riker snapped. "I'll watch your stupid show."

"Yay!" Kandace cheered excitedly. "Come on, Ryuu!" She cheered. Riker sighed. Ryuu was the nickname that Kandace had given him. She said it was the name he would have if the Avatarverse were real. She also forced him to call her Tikaani. Apparently, it was a water-tribe name that meant wolf. Riker had no idea how she knew, but it annoyed him how much she did know about the show. He sighed for about the fiftieth time and followed her to her room, where there was a TV. She popped a DVD in the DVD player and they began to watch Sozin's Comet, parts one through four. Kandace sat on the edge of her seat the entire time, which was stupid because she watched this episode more than a hundred times before. It was about an hour and a half later when they finished watching all four parts to Sozin's comet and Kandace was sitting there with wonder in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Riker stopped her.

"Don't say it."

"I wish that the Avatarverse was real. I wish that we could go there." Kandace sighed. Riker rolled his eyes.

"And there she goes." Riker grumbled. Just then, Kandace grabbed Riker's arm and dragged him through the hallway, towards the back door of their house. They emerged into their backyard and Kandace looked up at the stars. Riker stood on the back step and watched her rolling his eyes. Kandace turned around.

"If you were a bender, what would you want to be?" Kandace asked. Riker sighed, knowing that a question as important as this was unavoidable.

"I guess I would be a firebender. Fire is pretty… hot." Riker was about to say 'cool,' but that would be a contrary statement. Kandace smiled.

"If I was a bender, I'd be a waterbender." Kandace proclaimed it to the skies. She looked around. Suddenly, a star glimmered and shot across the sky. Kandace was ecstatic. "A shooting star! Ryuu, do you know what this means? Make a wish!" She shouted. She closed her eyes and started mouthing words. Riker knew exactly what words she was going to say. _I wish I were in the Avatarverse._ He sighed.

_Might as well do it just to humor her._ Riker thought to himself. He closed his eyes and began to mouth the words halfheartedly. As his eyes were closed, he thought he saw something flash, like a bright white light. When he opened his eyes, his mouth dropped wide open in shock. Thick black storm clouds were gathering overhead. It didn't make any sense. A second ago, the skies had been clear. This was against the laws of physics and science and other smart stuff. Riker watched in terror as Lightning struck. Kandace was still standing there with her eyes closed, mumbling to herself.

"Kandace!" Riker called. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her, but she stood her ground. The wind was howling in his ear. Leaves and grass were whirling in the wind. "Kandace, we have to get inside! This storm is bad!" Riker shouted. He pulled once again on Kandace's arm. She didn't even seem to have heard him, nor did she notice his hand pulling her arm. She seemed almost frozen, except that her lips were still moving and for some reason, Riker could no longer tell what she was saying. It definitely wasn't wishing to go to the Avatarverse. Kandace seemed to be a completely different person. Riker was getting scared. The wind howled harder.

Branches were starting to fly through the air; small plants were ripped from the ground. Lightning struck the ground, not five feet away from where Kandace and Riker stood. Riker leaped back as the grass caught on fire. A circle of flames completely surrounded them. Just then, the clouds opened up. Rain poured down, but the fire didn't get smaller. In fact, it seemed to be getting bigger. The wind circled around them, and Riker realized that the ground inside their circle of fire was completely dry. It wasn't raining in their circle. As if this wasn't frightening enough, the earth outside the circle started to ripple like ocean waves. Riker didn't know what was going on, but then he realized what it looked like. It was the four elements; fire, water, earth and air.

"Riker!" Riker turned his head back to Kandace. She had returned to normal.

"Kandace!" Riker called through the storm. Suddenly, something compelled him to look up. Kandace looked up too, and the twins screamed as a bolt of lightning came down and struck both of them. They fell to the ground, unconscious. To be continued…


	2. Chapter 01: Ice, Snow, and Zuko

**Yay! Here's my A:TLA fanfiction! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the plotline and a majority of the characters/dialogue are borrowed from the show. This story is about the reaction of real world characters to the direct plot and dialogue that is burrowed from the show. Please do not report me for an aspect that is necessary to my story AND that I have given credit to the original owners for. Thank You.**

**The only characters belonging to me are Ryuu, Tikaani, and several other characters in later chapters. **

**Ryuu's POV:**

**My eyes flickered open to see a dark ceiling above my head. Shadows danced across the walls with light as their partner. I groaned and rubbed my head. It was hurting a lot. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my head was too great and I collapsed onto the bed again. I tried to remember anything, but everything seemed to be a complete blank. There was only one thing I could remember. It was my name. Ryuu.**

** "****Where…" I tried to turn my head a little, just to get a view of the room I was in. At least I could manage that. I was in a small dark room. The only light came from a lamp in the corner. I could see the flames flickering inside. I tried to get a better view. Everything in the room looked so ****_rich_****. It looked so ****_expensive_****. The red and black blankets that were covering me were made of a brilliant silk. There was a rug on the floor with ornate red and orange patterns. The walls were black. They looked to be made of steel and there was a tapestry hanging on the wall opposite of my bed. The symbol of a red flame was sewn into it. It looked pretty good with a black background. The color of the room hurt my eyes. Everything was a bright red, orange, yellow, or it was a jet black. **

**I listened to the sound of the fire lamp crackling for a while, until I heard the door creaking open. I tried to sit up to see who had opened the door. Pain burst in my head and I immediately fell back into the rich silks. "Who…" I couldn't work up the strength to say anything else. Footsteps approached, slightly muffled by the ornate rugs.**

** "****Lay back down. You are not well." The voice was that of a kind old man. He was standing beside my bed now, looking down at me with concern. Behind him I noticed a boy, about the same age I was. He had a scar on the left side of his face and a ponytail. He was also extremely pale. He seemed familiar somehow… For some reason I couldn't remember who he was, but he was familiar. Now that I thought about it, the old man was familiar to. "You just need a bit of rest and some time."**

** "****Who… who are you?" I managed to ask.**

** "****We should be asking that of you!" The boy with the scar narrowed his eyes at me. He looked me up and down and he sneered. "A spy, sent to gather information on me, Prince Zuko, heir to the Fire Nation throne?" He glared at me.**

**"****I… I don't know who I am." I confessed. "I can only remember my name."**

**"****And what name might that be?" The old man asked, much more kindly.**

**"****Ryuu." I muttered, not even sure if that was right.**

**"****Well, Ryuu," the old man said kindly, "You should be going back to bed. Maybe you will remember more when you're well. I can help take care of you until then." As the old man talked, the teenager snorted and left the room. I sighed in relief. I could tell that he had anger issues and I don't like to deal with angry people, even if I do have a bit of an anger problem myself. "Do not mind my nephew. He has been through hard times." The old man turned to leave.**

** "****Wait!" I called out. I didn't know his name. "I don't know your name…"**

** "****My name is Iroh." He smiled.**

** "****Thanks…" I sighed as I closed my eyes and drifted back into a deep sleep…**

**Tikaani's POV:**

**I opened my eyes to see the wide-open sky above my head. Not a cloud drifted by, but I could feel the cold of my body, even under the full light of the sun. ****_If the sun was out, shouldn't it be warmer? _****I thought before sitting up. ****_Maybe not…_**

**The world around me was ice. There was ice and snow everywhere. I stood shakily to my feet and looked around. There wasn't a cloud in sight. I walked across the icy ground. I stopped when I realized that I was on top of a large tower of ice and that there was no way for me to get down. ****_How the heck did I end up here? _****I thought to myself. ****_Where's_****\- My thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice.**

** "****Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?" My eyes widened when I heard that voice. I recognized it. I walked over to the other side of the ice tower and looked down. Two people were sitting in a canoe, arguing. They weren't normal people either. They were ****_anime _****people. Then I looked at my hands. I was shocked to see that my Pikachu hoodie, Adventure Time T-shirt, and jeans had been replaced by a thick blue coat that reached all the way down to my shins. Not only that, but it was all in anime. **

**I looked back at the teenagers in the canoe. I recognized them. They were Sokka and Katara from ****_Avatar: The Last Airbender_****. This was unreal… This was ****_way_****unreal. I was in the Avatarverse! Not only that, but I was starting at the beginning. This was the first episode, ****_The Boy in the Iceberg_****!**

** "****Ugh!" Katara scoffed at her brother. "It's not magic, its waterbending! And it's-" Katara was about to continue, but Sokka rudely interrupted her.**

** "****Yeah, yeah, and it's an art unique to our culture, blah, blah, blah…" Sokka rolled his eyes before he continued talking. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself." I fought the urge to laugh. Hearing it in person was even more funny than hearing it in the show. **

**I realized that their canoe had passed my ice tower. Although it was moving slow, I wouldn't be able to hear their voices over the sound of the waves if I didn't move to the next ice pillar. Luckily for me, it was within jumping distance. I ran and took a flying leap. I just so managed to scramble onto the pillar. Their canoe moved sluggishly past.**

**"****You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water!" Katara countered, grinning. Sokka narrowed his eyes and was about to make a retort, but suddenly, they got caught in a current and the canoe sped up. I struggled to keep up, jumping from one tower to the next, but I was too slow! Then, something came to me. ****_Maybe, just maybe…_****I concentrated on the ice, moving my hands above the spot I was standing on. I felt a tingling in my fingers and I concentrated harder. A tiny crack appeared in the ice, and I had to suppress a squeal of joy. ****_Yes! I'm a waterbender!_****I tried to form some kind of ice bridge, but my lack of practice wouldn't allow me. I grumbled with frustration and I jumped to the next ice pillar, but their canoe was already out of sight.**

**_Well that's just great!_****I grumbled. How come I'd never bothered to take Tai Chi classes? Those would have come in handy if I'd known I was going to be a waterbender. Then again, how could I have possibly predicted something like this? Not even Aunt Wu would would be able to predict something like ****_that_****! ****_What am I going to do now?_****I thought angrily. I could see a lot from atop the pillar of ice, but everything I did see was whitish blue ice, azure blue sky, or dark blue ocean. I could only hear the soft hum of the wind in my ears.**

**"****Ugh..." I grunted in frustration. ****_I could keep traveling the different ice towers until I see something- anything- familiar._****I was about to do just then when I heard a voice shouting about the sound of the waves.**

******"****No! That's it; I'm done helping you! From now on, you're on your own!" It was Katara's voice. ****_This must be the part when she destroys the ice tower and discovers Aang! She must be really mad for me to be able to hear her yelling from here._****I leaped towards the next ice pedestal. After jumping a few, the ice pillars were spread too far apart for me to reach. I stared out at the open ocean. Katara and Sokka were lying on an ice floe a little ways away. The water was calming down and the wind had settled so I could hear them clearly.**

******"****Okay. You've gone from weird to freakish, Katara." Sokka spat.**

** "****You mean I did that?" Katara gasped.**

** "****Yup. Congratulations." Sokka stated sarcastically. Katara shot him a glance, but before she could reply the water beneath them started to glow with a neon blue light. The water bubbled and the two of them stepped back frantically. Suddenly, a giant, glowing iceberg shot out of the water. Waves shook Katara and Sokka's ice floe and they struggled for balance. The waves soothed and the iceberg floated gently on the surface. Katara and Sokka stared at the iceberg in wonder. Katara took a step closer and gaped at it. I looked too. I could see the dark silhouette of a boy and a giant bison-like creature. Of course I already knew that it was Aang and Appa, but the water tribe siblings would have to find that out soon.**

** "****He's alive!" Katara cried. "We have to help!" She grabbed Sokka's machete and ran toward the giant iceberg. She leaped from floe to floe until she was at the base of the iceberg.**

** "****Katara! Get back here!" He chastised, grabbing his spear before chasing after his younger sister. "We don't know what that thing is!" **

**But Katara wasn't listening. She beat the iceberg with Sokka's machete. After hitting it about four or five times, the iceberg burst open with a gust of air. Thick mist spread throughout the area. When it cleared, the iceberg had been almost completely cracked open. Blue lights swirled in the air. Sokka hugged Katara protectively whilst he pointed his spear at what was left of the iceberg. The light began to dissipate as a twelve-year-old boy rose from the iceberg, his eyes and arrows glowing. ****_I wish I was down there..._****I thought angrily, but I wasn't close enough to risk jumping into the ocean. It could be filled with tiger sharks or dolphin sharks or whatever other weird animals existed in the Avatarverse.**

** "****Stop!" Sokka growled, pointing his spear at Aang. The young airbender's tattoos and eyes stopped glowing and he fell. Katara rushed forward to catch him. Sokka poked Aang's head with the butt of his spear. **

** "****Stop it!" Katara scolded, pushing Sokka's spear away. He withdrew, glaring at Aang skeptically. Katara looked down at Aang. The airbender's gray eyes opened and he stared at the waterbender's blue eyes. I seethed as I remembered my deep roots as a Zutara and Taang shipper. Then a thought occurred to me. ****_I can have Zuko to myself! I just have to make him fall in love with me... Somehow..._**

** "****I need to ask to ask you something…" Aang muttered weakly.**

** "****What?" Katara asked.**

** "****Please… come closer…" Katara leaned closer.**

** "****What is it?" She asked.**

** "****Will you go penguin sledding with me?" He asked excitedly.**

** "****Uh… Sure. I-I guess…" Katara agreed. Aang airbended himself to his feet. Sokka's mouth dropped open and he leaped backwards, readying his spear in defense.**

** "****What's going on here?" He scratched his head. He looked around curiously, confusion on his face. Sokka scoffed.**

** "****You tell us! How did you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" Sokka gently poked Aang's side with his spear. Aang waved it away casually.**

** "****I'm not sure." He replied. A loud groan filled the air. ****_Appa! _****I wished so bad that I could go down there. The groan came again and Aang climbed back into the remnants of the iceberg. He spread his arms wide and hugged the giant bison. "Appa! Are you alright?" Appa's eyes remained closed for a few moments. "Wake up, buddy!" Aang lifted one of the bison's eyelids and a big, brown eye stared up at him. When he let it go, the bison's eyes closed again. **

**When Aang tried to lift the bison's chin, it licked him with a giant tongue. **

** "****Haha, you're okay!" He cheered. Katara and Sokka walked around the corner and gaped at the ten-ton magical monster. The bison stood to his feet and shook himself.**

** "****What is that thing?" Sokka demanded.**

** "****This is Appa, my flying bison!" Aang introduced his pet excitedly.**

** "****Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." Sokka retorted. I wished for a moment that I could fly down there to join them, but I was a waterbender, and my skills were poor to say the least. Aang looked slightly confused, but before he could say anything, Appa sneezed snot all over Sokka, who began to freak out. **

** "****Don't worry, it'll wash out." Aang smiled. Sokka made a disgusted noise as he tried to wipe the snot off his face, but to no avail. "So, do you guys live around here?"**

** "****Don't answer that!" Sokka pointed his spear at Aang again. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy."**

** "****Oh, yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy." Katara rolled her eyes as she stepped forward, glaring at Sokka. "You can tell by that ****_evil_****look in his eye." Aang gave Katara a corny smile. "The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka." Katara informed. "You never told us you're name." **

** "****I'm Ah-ah-ah-aaaah..." Aang trailed off. He let out a huge sneeze and shot ten to twenty feet into the air. For a few seconds, I thought he might see me, but his eyes were closed from the sneeze. When he landed back on his feet, he smiled and itched his nose. "I'm Aang!"**

** "****You just sneezed... and flew ten feet in the air!" Sokka gasped, pointing at the sky.**

** "****Really? It felt higher than that." He commented, looking up.**

** "****You're an airbender!" Katara realized.**

** "****Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders..." Sokka muttered, turning around. "I think I've got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense. Sokka began to walk, but he stopped. They were stranded in the middle of the ocean. The ice flows from before had been swept away.**

** "****Well if you guys are stuck, Appa and I could give you a lift." Aang offered. ****_That's it!_****I thought excitedly. ****_I can jump onto Appa's saddle as they're swimming past._****Aang airbended onto Appa's head.**

** "****We'd love a ride, thanks!" Katara climbed into Appa's saddle without hesitation, but Sokka glared at the bison skeptically.**

** "****Oh no, I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster!" He protested. **

** "****Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home?" Katara wondered. raising an eyebrow. "You know, before you freeze to death?"**

**Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but he instead let out a sigh and reluctantly climbed onto Appa's saddle. **

** "****Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight!" Aang cheered. "Appa, yip yip!" The bison let out a loud roar. He leaped into the air and spread out his legs before doing a belly flop into the salty ocean water. They swam through the water. "Come on, Appa, yip yip!" Aang urged.**

** "****Wow, that was truly amazing..." Sokka grumbled. **

** "****Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see!" Aang smiled wide at Katara. Appa was just swimming past the pillar of ice that I had been watching from. I looked down. If I jumped now, there's no way I would miss it. If I hesitated too long, I would make contact with the freezing sea water. ****_It's now or never._****And with that thought I hurled myself off the ice tower and plummeted through the air.**

**Ryuu's POV:**

**There were two major things I noticed when I woke up. The first was that my rest had rejuvenated me. I felt a lot stronger than I had been when I had last drifted off. The second was that someone had placed a cup of tea on my bedside table. Steam was rising from it and it smelled delicious. I sat up and didn't even bother to look around the room before I took a sip. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted, like an explosion of flavor in my mouth.**

** "****Who made this tea?" I asked to myself, expecting no answer.**

** "****I did." I jumped and looked towards the door. Iroh was standing there. ****_How is it that I didn't see him standing there? I guess my head is still kind of funky..._**

** "****It tastes great." I told him. "And I feel a lot better, but… I have so many questions. Like how did I end up on your ship?"**

** "****We are searching for someone." Iroh explained. "And we found you knocked out on an ice floe. I managed to convince Prince Zuko to let you stay on his ship. Even though he seems angry, he isn't heartless." Iroh explained. He paused before continuing. "So... Where are you from?"**

** "****I don't remember. Everything is a blank, except for my name. I already told you that, though." I tried to remember, but I couldn't. I put my hand up to my face and let out a gasp. The skin on my forehead felt different. "What's this?" I demanded.**

** "****A scar." Iroh explained. "I don't suppose you remember how you got it?" Iroh wondered. I fingered the scar. It was in the shape of a flame and it was right in the middle of my forehead. As I fingered it, I saw a flash of white light.**

** "****Lightning… I think it was lightning." I knew it was impossible. I knew that if Lightning struck someone in the forehead, the chances of him or her coming out alive were slim, but lightning is what I remembered. I looked over at Iroh and by the concerned look on his face I could tell he was thinking the same thing.**

** "****Sounds to me like you were caught in a rough storm… That, or you had a run in with a powerful firebender." Iroh stated. "I don't suppose you remember your ethnicities, but I can tell from your eyes that you are a firebender."**

** "****Firebender?" I wondered aloud. It seemed familiar. "I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds familiar…" I tried to remember. Iroh sighed.**

** "****I see your knowledge is limited. You lost a lot of memory." Iroh held out his hand and a small flame appeared in his palm. "Firebending is the power to control fire." He breathed in and out, and the fire grew larger and smaller with his breath. He closed his hand back into a fist and the fire extinguished. I watched and something came back to me. I could definitely remember something about the elements. There were three others.**

** "****There are three others, aren't there?" I tried to recall them. "Earthbenders, waterbenders, and airbenders." Iroh looked relieved that I was starting to recall something other than my name. I remembered something else too. I was sure that I was a firebender. "I'm a firebender… I think." Iroh scratched his chin.**

** "****When you are feeling better, we will see. Until then, you need more rest. I will bring in some noodles and tea later. Now, however, I am needed elsewhere."**

** "****Okay…" I sighed and I lay back down, but I couldn't sleep. I sighed again before standing to my feet. I left my room and walked through the halls. As I did so, I soon heard Iroh's voice.**

** "****I'm going to bed now." Iroh yawned. I followed the sound and peered out. He was on the deck, talking to that hotheaded prince. Zuko, I think it was? "Yup… A man needs his rest." Iroh paused, as if waiting for Zuko to do or say something. "Prince Zuko, you need some sleep. Even if you are right and the avatar is alive, you won't find him! Your father, grandfather and great grandfather all tried and failed."**

** "****Their honor didn't hinge on the avatar's capture. Mine does. This coward's hundred years in hiding are over!" Zuko snapped. That's when I decided to step out.**

** "****Who's this 'avatar' guy?" I asked. "And why are you searching for him?" I scratched my head in confusion. Nothing this guy said made any sense. Zuko whipped around to face me. He looked me up and down and started to walk toward me with an angered look on his face.**

** "****How dare you mock me?" Prince Zuko sneered. He flicked his hand, creating a small fireball. He looked about ready to throw it, but Iroh stepped in his way.**

** "****He is not mocking you, Zuko. He has lost much of his memory." Iroh explained. Zuko stopped, but there was still a fireball in his hand and a sneer on his face. He looked at me closely before flicking his hand, thus extinguishing the fireball.**

** "****I don't have time to deal with the likes of him anyway." Zuko snapped. "As soon as we get to a proper port, he can be off on his merry way."**

**Tikaani's POV:**

**"****Ah!" I screamed as loud as I could as wind whirled in my ears. I could feel myself falling, but I didn't dare open my eyes. I know I was falling head first, too. For a second, I thought I wouldn't survive even if I did land on Appa. My ice pillar had been higher than I'd anticipated, but I couldn't turn back now. The wind shifted slightly. I didn't know if it was my imagination, but I thought I was falling slower. I couldn't take it anymore. **

**I opened one eye to see that I was indeed falling in slow motion. I wasn't falling, though. The wind was ****_carrying_****me onto Appa's saddle. With a jolt I realized that Aang was airbending me. ****_Of course! Now I feel stupid._****Aang blasted a gust of air at my face to flip me around mid air. Once my feet were facing the ground, he let me go and I stumbled onto Appa's saddle and fell onto my butt.**

**"****Hello!" Aang greeted curiously. He didn't seem at all phased by that face that I'd just 'fallen from the sky.' Sokka and Katara, on the other hand, were staring at me with wide eyes.**

**"****Who are you?" Katara wondered curiously. I blinked a couple of times and racked my brains. ****_What am I going to tell them? They'll know I'm not from the Southern Water Tribe!_**

**"****Tikaani." I was glad that I'd always fantasized myself being a waterbender. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what name to come up with just now. But I wasn't off the hook just yet. Sokka was pointing his spear at me with an eyebrow raised. **

**"****Where did you come from? You're not a member of the Southern Water Tribe!" He accused. "How do we know you're not a Fire Nation spy?"**

**"****Seriously, do you accuse ****_everyone_****of being a spy?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm from the Northern Water Tribe." I hoped that they'd buy my act. **

**"****What are you doing here, then?" Katara questioned.**

**"****Um, looking for the Southern Tribe, ****_duh_****!" I stated. "So, are you guys going to tell me your names?" **

**"****I'm-" Aang began, but Sokka held out his hand to stop him.**

**"****I'm not convinced!" Sokka shouted. "Prove that you're not a spy." **

**"****Fine. Would a Fire Nation spy be able to do this?" I asked as I concentrated. I moved my hands around, trying my hardest to waterbend. Once again I felt an icy sensation in my fingers as I finally managed to bend a sphere of water out of the ocean. It was sloppy, but it was enough to prove that I wasn't a firebender.**

**"****You're a waterbender!" Katara gasped. I dropped the water back into the ocean. **

**"****And not a very good one, either..." I grumbled. Waterbending was a lot harder than they made it look in the show. It was so difficult to bend the water at will. I now understood why it had given Katara problems at the beginning. I realized that it might help if my hair wasn't in face, so I pulled my hood back and tucked my hair behind my ears. I was about to start practicing some more waterbending, but something stopped me.**

**I felt like someone was staring at me. I turned my head to see Sokka watching me. He was blushing slightly and he was wearing a goofy smile. ****_No._**** "****Why are you staring at me?"**

**"****What?" Sokka's eyes widened. "I wasn't staring!" His face went fire engine red and he looked away quickly. ****_No way. Sokka _****cannot****_have a crush on me! Sokka belongs with Suki! _****I am a hard core Sukka shipper. If they don't end up together, I would pull my hair out.**

**"****Good." I snapped. I went back to practicing my waterbending.**

**Ryuu's POV:**

** "****Wake up." Iroh shook me awake the next morning. Thankfully, he had taken the liberty to tell me who the avatar was before I went to bed last night. Like most of the things I was learning from him, it all seemed vaguely familiar. He had also promised to give me firebending lessons with Prince Zuko. I wasn't looking forward to training with the hotheaded prince, but it didn't seem that I had a choice. "Lets see if you really are a firebender. Get up." I did as I was told. Iroh created a flame in the palm of his hand. "Hold out your hand." He ordered. I did so, wondering what he was doing. Without warning, Iroh chucked his flame towards my hand. I shouted and swiped my hand out of the way, but to my amazement, the flame shot back towards Iroh. He caught it and extinguished it. "Good. Now follow me."**

** "****Okay…" I muttered groggily. Why did I have to get up this early? Seriously, I am not a morning person. Not only that, but I was getting up early just so an old man and his hotheaded nephew could chuck flames at me. ****_How delightful…_****I thought to myself. Soon we had reached the front deck, where Prince Zuko was already practicing with two guards. He was doing somersaults and kicking flames out of his feet. ****_I am never going to be able to do that…_****I thought bitterly.**

** "****What is he doing here?" Zuko growled.**

** "****Same as you." I snorted. "Firebending."**

** "****We will start with basic maneuvers." Uncle Iroh stated. Zuko was enraged.**

** "****Basic maneuvers?" He was seething with anger. "He needs to learn basic maneuvers, I need the advanced set!" Zuko snapped.**

** "****You will master the basics first!" Iroh ordered. His statement was definite. Zuko let out a disgruntled sigh before taking on a fighting stance. I did so as well, facing one of the guards. "Try to avoid your opponent's moves, then knock him off his feet with a powerful fire blast." I nodded.**

**The guard across from me started chucking fireballs. I stepped to the left to avoid the first, ducked to avoid the second, but the third hit me in the gut. I ran over to the side of the ship and hacked up what little food was already in my system.**

** "****Perhaps you are still to weak to be training, even with the basics."**

** "****No, I'm fine." I argued, even though I felt sick. I wasn't usually a people pleaser, but I had a reluctance to let this Zuko character see my weak side. Though I suppose he already had. I got back to my feet and faced the guard.**

** "****In order to dodge your opponent's attacks, you must be light on your feet, ready to change direction at a moment's notice." Iroh explained. "Or you get a fireball to the gut." He laughed. "Now, try it again!" He advised. This time I was ready. ****_Right, left, duck, jump, roll_****\- I dodged about nine fireballs. I could tell that the guard was running out of breath. Now was my chance. I punched my fist in his direction and a burst of flame knocked him to off his feet. "Great adjustment." Iroh complimented. "Again!"**

**I sighed and did the drill again. And again, and again… Zuko suffered the same fate and eventually we both lost our patience. I was surprised when we both shouted at Iroh, saying the same exact words at the same time.**

** "****Enough! I've been drilling this sequence all day! Teach me the next set, I'm more than ready!" We both stopped dead and turned to look at one another. Zuko's good eye was wide with surprise, but it narrowed with anger in a few seconds.**

** "****Yesterday you couldn't even sit up in bed!" Zuko shouted. "What makes you think you can move to the advanced?"**

** "****Probably the fact that I'm just as good as you are." I snapped. Fire burned in Zuko's eyes and now in his hands. He was enraged.**

** "****You'll regret comparing yourself to me!" He snapped, chucking a fireball at me. I dodged easily and he chucked another. He was so angry he wasn't even considering aim. He was just chucking fireball after fireball, until he was out of breath from the effort. I smiled and kicked in his direction, aiming for his face.**

** "****Enough!" Iroh bellowed. He knocked the fireball into the ocean before it could get to Zuko. "You will both continue the basic set until you learn to control your tempers!"**

** "****Yes, uncle…" Zuko muttered.**

** "****Yes, Iroh…" I muttered after him. We glared at one another before continuing our drills. ****_Stupid spoiled prince… _****I thought. ****_Who does he think he is?_**

**Tikaani's POV: **

**I had tried practicing waterbending for a while. I managed to master a few, very basic maneuvers, like making waves, but it was so monotonous. I taught Sokka how to play I Spy, but the only things we could spot were water, ice, and the sky. Sokka had fallen asleep, anyway.**

** "****Hey." I looked up. Katara was talking to Aang.**

** "****Hey." He smiled. "What'cha thinkin about?" He asked.**

** "****I guess I was wondering- your being an airbender and all- if you had any idea what happened to the avatar." Katara asked. Aang looked a little uneasy. **

** "****Uh... No." Aang said hastily. "I didn't know him. I mean I knew people that knew him, but I didn't. Sorry."**

** "****Okay. Just curious. Goodnight."**

** "****Sleep tight." Aang looked away. I shook my head. ****_He really needs to learn how to lie better. _****I wondered if I should point it out, but no- Katara might hear me. She'd find out in due time that Aang is the avatar. With that, I curled up and went to sleep.**


	3. Chapter 02: Snowballs and Hotheads

**Thanks for the reviews! :D**

**Here's an early update for you!**

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up rather late the next day. If only someone would have warned me that being transferred to an anime world would mess with my sleeping schedule. I sighed and sat up in bed, trying to figure out what had woken me up. That's when I heard the panicked shouts and cracking ice. _Zuko's here! _I thought and I ran out of my tent. Zuko's ship had just reached the wall. Slowly, the front of the ship opened up and Zuko walked out.

"Ah!" Sokka screamed as he charged at Zuko. I forced myself not to laugh when Zuko kicked him into the snow bank. A strange silence fell when Zuko walked onto the snowy ground and started to survey the crowd.

"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko asked, scanning the crowd. My pupil's were dilated and my eyes were sparkling as I stared at him. I would have admired him, had he not yanked Katara's gran-gran out of the crowd. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" The faces of the water tribe citizens remained blank as they stared at Zuko in horror.

"I don't know who your talking about," I piped up, stepping forward, "But you're going to leave this place, right now!" I shouted. Zuko glared at me.

"And you're going to stop me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I smiled.

"No." _But I can provide a distraction while Sokka-_

"Ah!" Sokka shouted and began to run at Zuko from behind. I face palmed. Zuko easily dodged this supposed 'sneak attack.' The angered prince shot a fireball at Sokka. Sokka rolled out of the way and threw his boomerang at Zuko. I fought the urge to laugh as I remembered what would happen when the boomerang came back.

"Show no fear!" A little kid shouted, throwing him a whale tooth spear. Sokka caught it and charged at Zuko. Zuko broke the spear in two with his bare hands. He grabbed it and poked Sokka in the head three times, causing him to fall over on his butt. Zuko then broke the remains of the spear in two and tossed the pieces into the snow. I eagerly waited for what would happen next. Sokka's boomerang returned and whacked Zuko on the back of the head. His eyes widened in shock and rage. He didn't know what hit him, but his face was contorted in rage. A torch-like flame came out of his fists. _Fire daggers! _I thought excitedly. Then I realized that he was about to use them on Sokka. I stepped in Sokka's way.

"Not a step closer!" I knew I wouldn't have to attack him. Aang would come in on a penguin seal in three… two… one! Aang went right in between Zuko's legs, sending the banished prince flying through the air. He slid across the icy ground and his helmet landed on his butt. Finally I couldn't help it anymore. I burst into a bout of laughter and tears. Zuko soon rose to his feet. He took in a deep breath and prepared himself as Aang turned around to face him. Aang blew snow in their faces.

"Looking for me?" Aang asked.

"You're the Airbender? You're the avatar?" Zuko asked in shock. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko shouted in rage.

"Well you're just a teenager." Aang countered simply. Zuko blasted fire at him. Aang twirled his glider to counter it. The people of the Southern Water tribe shrunk back in fear. I bent the snow to shield them from the fire.

"You're a waterbender!" Katara exclaimed. I nodded, about to reply, but I decided to turn my attention back to the scene in front of me. I knew Aang was about to offer himself up as prisoner to help the people of the Southern Water Tribe.

"If I go with you, do you promise to leave everyone alone?" Zuko seemed surprised that the avatar would offer himself up so easily. He gave a curt nod and I had to admire him. No matter what heights Zuko would reach to capture Aang, he wouldn't break a promise. I watched as Aang was marched towards Zuko's ship, flanked on either side by guards.

"No, Aang, don't do this!" Katara protested.

"Don't worry Katara. It'll be okay." Aang promised. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"

"Head a course for the Fire Nation!" Zuko ordered. "I'm going home!" With that, the ship closed and my beloved Zuko- err… I mean the avatar- was gone. Sokka and Katara stared up as the ship pulled away, sadness in their eyes. Tears were filling Katara's. She slowly walked out towards the ocean and watched the ship disappear on the horizon. Others were fixing up camp.

"We have to go after that ship, Sokka!" Katara said finally. "Aang saved our tribe, now we have to save him!"

"Katara, I-" Sokka began. Katara interrupted him.

"Why can't you realize that he's on our side? If we don't help him, no one will. I know you don't like Aang, but we owe him-"

"Katara!" Sokka returned the interruption. "Are you gonna talk all day, or are you coming with me?" Sokka asked, pointing towards the canoe. Katara turned around. She smiled, called his name, and then gave Sokka a huge hug. "Get in. We're going to save your-"

"I'm coming too." I insisted. They both jumped and turned around. They sighed in unison. Katara opened her mouth to argue, but Sokka vouched for me.

"Let her come, Katara!" Sokka pleaded. "Did you see the way she stood up to that scar-faced guy?" I winced. We would have to get rid of his little crush sooner or later. He had to be with Suki.

"Fine…" Katara grumbled. I don't know why she didn't like me. It might be because I had just met her. She would grow to trust me, just like she would grow to trust Zuko after he joined the group.

"Where do you three think your going?" Gran-gran showed up at the last second. They tried to look innocent. "You'll need these." Gran-gran said smiling. She handed Katara and Sokka a bundle of sleeping bags. There were three in it, I could tell. "You have a long journey ahead of you. They looked at each other in shock. I kind of just sat on the sidelines, knowing everything that was going to happen. I sighed. Knowing everything is a little boring, ya know? "It's been so long since I've had hope, but you brought it back to life, my little waterbender. You, my brave warrior," She addressed Sokka now, "Be nice to your sister." Gran-gran hugged Sokka. "And Tikaani…" I was surprised when gran-gran addressed me. "Keep Sokka out of trouble." She smirked.

"Of course." I snickered.

"Aang is the avatar." Gran-gran continued. I rolled my eyes. This was taking too long. "He's the world's only chance. You both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his." _And Zuko's…_ I thought mischievously.

"Well, we can't catch a warship in a dingy." I piped up, looking at Sokka's measly little canoe. He seemed offended and opened his mouth to defend himself, but before he could, Appa trudged over the hill, grumbling loudly. "Look, its Appa!" I cried. Sokka's face grew a flat look and he narrowed his eyes.

"You just wanna take me out of my comfort zone, don't ya?" He asked. I winked and smiled.

Ryuu's POV:

I sighed and walked through the ship. The usual guards were nowhere to be seen. Something big must be happening. _How come no one ever tells me what's going on? _I wondered to myself. _New guy on board, that doesn't mean I can't know things._ I grumbled to myself as I continued. Finally, a voice met my ears. Too bad it was a voice that I had no interest in hearing.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." Zuko stated. I walked out onto the deck and snorted before crossing my arms. His face contorted with rage. "Something funny?" He asked.

"No, just that I thought you were banished and all…" I muttered. Zuko was enraged. That made me smile.

"Go back to bed, you insolent fool!" He shouted, turning his back toward me. I snickered. "Take the avatar to the prison hold!" Zuko sneered. I watched as the guards escorted a twelve-year-old boy off the main deck. I laughed.

"You can't possibly believe that that little kid is the avatar?" I questioned, wiping tears from my eyes. Zuko shoved the staff in my direction.

"Take this to my quarters. Now!" He snapped, getting in my face. We were of equal height and age. He had no right to order me around. Still, I decided not to argue for once. I started grumbling threats and curses under my breath.

"Son of hog monkey…" I walked through the empty halls until I reached what was supposed to be Zuko's room. I carelessly shoved the door open and tossed the staff inside. Suddenly I heard a loud bang and I peered into Zuko's room, but everything seemed to be in order. I sighed and walked down the hall. Just then, I heard shouting and the kid raced around the corner, nearly running me over. I hurled a blast of fire at him as he ran away, but this kid was seriously faster than the wind. As soon as he was gone, I straightened my clothes and continued to walk down the hallway. That kid wasn't my problem.

I made my way out onto the deck. From there I could hear fire blasts and I looked back up towards the angry Prince's room. It was lit like a torch. I laughed and continued to watch. Suddenly, I heard a shout from the helmsman. The kit raced across the lookout post and took a flying leap. _Monkey feathers, what is wrong with that kid? _I thought, but instead of falling, the kid opened his glider and _flew_ I mean he literally _flew_. I thought he was going to get away too, until the crazy, hotheaded prince followed in pursuit. He leaped through the air like an agile wildcat, catching hold of the avatar's foot. He fought to stay airborne, but they crashed onto the deck, almost running me over in the process.

"Watch it, freak!" I yelped, rolling out of the way. I hit the side of the ship and almost toppled over the edge. I turned around to look at the two lunatics. Slowly they struggled to their feet, but as they did so, I noticed a loud roaring in the distance. I looked up to see a giant white fluffy thing flying through the sky. That was when I decided that I had finally lost my marbles.

"What is that?" Zuko asked, looking up at it. _He can see it too. That's good. I guess I'm not crazy. _I thought thankfully. _Unless we're _both _crazy…_

"Appa!" The airbender kid exclaimed gleefully. I sighed in relief.

"Wait, what's an Appa?" I asked. Just then, Prince Zuko blasted a fireball at the kid. He spun his staff, thus reflecting the fireball, and almost falling over the edge of the boat. Zuko wasted no time in blasting him with another fireball. He continued until the kid lost hold of his staff. The kid stumbled backwards. He teetered on the edge of the boat. One more fireball sent him plummeting into the sea. I thought I heard a panicked voice from the white fluffy thing, but I couldn't be sure.

I looked over the edge of the boat, where the kid had fallen in. The sea seemed to swallow him, but just then, a glowing blue light appeared. The kid rose from the water, followed closely by a huge tornado of water. I gaped up at him, my eyes wide with astonishment. This kid really was the avatar! And he was in the avatar state. In one swift motion he swiped a wave of water across the deck, knocking a majority of the guards off the side of the boat. I dropped to my stomach just in time and the water whizzed by. The angry prince fell into the ocean and I chortled.

"Did you see what he just did?" A voice came from the bison. I looked up. There were three Water Tribe kids looking off the edge of the fluffy thing. All three of them looked familiar. _Why does _everyone _look familiar here?_ I thought to myself angrily. I realized that even the airbender kid looked familiar. I watched him collapse after that short display water. The three kids on the fluffy white thing leaped down to see if he was okay.

"Aang! Are you okay?" The younger Water tribe girl ran up to him. The water tribe boy followed, but the third was staring at me. I slowly struggled to my feet and looked at her. She seemed familiar. I know that everyone here seemed familiar, but she seemed more familiar than anyone else. _Who is she? _I thought. As I looked at her, she looked at me too, but she wasn't wondering who I was. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she _knew_ who I was. I would have taken a few steps back, but I was up against the side of the ship.

"Katara? Sokka?" Aang looked at each of them in turn. "Thanks for coming."

"Well I couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka said smugly.

"I dropped my staff." Aang said weakly. Sokka got up and went to retrieve it, but when he did, a hand reached out and grabbed the other end. It was Zuko. Sokka let out a shout of surprise. He tried to pull the staff from Zuko's gasp, but Zuko hung on tightly. I laughed when he started poking Zuko in the head with the staff and Zuko fell towards the ocean once again. He couldn't have fallen in, though. I didn't hear a splash.

"Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" Sokka shouted triumphantly. I laughed even harder. The only problem with my laughing was that the young warrior noticed me next. "Do you want some of this?" Sokka asked, pointing the staff at me. I shrugged.

"No thanks, I'm good." I replied.

"Okay, suit yourself." Sokka said. He turned back towards the white fluffy thing and began to retreat. Just as he did so, other fire nation guards began to run towards him. The younger water tribe girl began to bend the water weakly, but the older one skillfully blasted the guards backwards and froze them in ice. They climbed atop the sky bison and flew off. I stood there and watched them go, powerless to do anything.

"Ugh…" Zuko growled. I turned around to see Iroh helping him back onto the ship. "Shoot them down!" He ordered. I shot a fireball towards them, but the airbender kid swung his staff, knocking the fireball into a glacier nearby. I ran and leaped out of the way, just so managing to avoid getting caught in an avalanche of icy rocks. Unfortunately, the hotheaded prince also survived the ordeal.

"Good news for the Fire Lord." Iroh said, scratching his beard. "The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." I started laughing and snorting.

"Well that 'little kid' just trashed your ship, gramps!" I laughed, whipping a tear from my eyes. "Seriously," I continued, looking at Zuko, "You just got bested by a twelve year old!"

"Shut up!" Zuko sneered. "Or I'll make you dig out this ship by yourself!" He growled. I smiled.

"Well if you want it done next month, I'd gladly oblige."

Tikaani's POV:

"How did you do that? With the water?" Katara asked Aang with surprise. "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy thinking about Riker. I could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't remembered me. He was my brother. How come he hadn't remembered me?

"I don't know. I just sort of… did it." Aang replied.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?" Katara wondered aloud.

"Because… I never wanted to be." Aang stated sadly.

"But Aang… The world's been waiting for the avatar to return and finally put an end to this war."

"And how am I going to do that?" Aang asked. I decided that I couldn't let Katara do all the talking.

"You have to master the other three elements in order. First water, then earth, and then fire. So if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending." I reasoned. Katara glared at me. I had just successfully stolen her line.

"You, Katara and I… We could learn it together!" Aang exclaimed.

"Sokka, I'm sure you'll be able to knock some firebender heads on the way!" Katara exclaimed.

"I'd like that. I'd really like that." Sokka smiled. _Firebender heads… _I thought to myself. _Just like Riker's..._ I stared back the way we had come. _I hope he'll be all right. _I thought to myself.

"But before we go…" Aang butted in. "We have some serious business to attend to! Here, here and here!" He pointed to the different places on the map as he addressed them, then he continued by saying what we would do in those different places. That's when I remembered the contents of the next episode. We would be exploring an empty abandoned building. Zuko would be having an Agni Kai with Zhao. We were going to have a boring trip to the Southern Air Temple while Zuko, on the other hand, challenged a master firebender. Not only that, but he would be doing it with his shirt _off_! And I was going to miss it!


	4. Chapter 03: Air Temples and Agni Kais

**Once again thanks for the reviews! Here comes one of my favorite episodes: ZUKO SHIRTLESS! LOL, JK, it's called The Southern Air Temple. **

**But it totally should have been called Zuko Shirtless. XD**

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up bright and early the next morning. Today we were going to visit the Southern Air Temple. I just wished that we would be able to see Zuko too…

"Wait till you see it, Katara and Tikaani! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!" Aang exclaimed. It sounded strange to hear him say my name as well, but I accepted it. After all, I was part of the group!

"Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home." Katara voiced her worries aloud. I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything.

"That's why I'm so excited!" Aang exclaimed.

"It's just that… A lot can change in all that time." Katara said.

"I know, but I need to see it for myself." Aang replied.

"Aang…" I joined in, not wanting to be left out. "No one has seen an airbender in over a hundred years. I'm not sure if-"

"Just because nobody's seen an airbender, doesn't mean they don't exist." Aang retorted. He opened his mouth to continue, but Sokka's snoring interrupted him. He walked over to the sleeping lump. "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!"

"Sleep now, Air Temple later!" Sokka grumbled, covering his ears. Aang grew a mischievous grin. He picked up a stick and poked Sokka with it.

"Sokka, wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" He exclaimed.

"Aaah! Get it off! Get it off! Aaah!" Sokka screamed and hopped around in his sleeping bag until he fell over. Katara, Aang and I laughed and he began to grumble to himself.

"Great, you're awake! Let's go!" Aang smiled and Sokka narrowed his eyes. He stumbled to his feet, mumbling and grumbling under his breath. I laughed.

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible! I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." Prince Zuko growled irritably to himself as him and Iroh made their way off the ship. I followed reluctantly. Zuko had not forgotten his promise to drop me off at the first port we stopped at.

"You mean the avatar?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Get away from my ship, and don't mention his name on these docks!" Zuko snapped. "I don't need you or any other firebenders getting in the way!"

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" A voice sounded. I peered over Zuko's shoulder to see a tall, ugly man with big side burns walking toward us. I didn't know who he was, but I didn't like him.

"Captain Zhao…" Zuko trailed off, a bitter look crossing his face. He looked as if he had just swallowed a mouthful of seawater.

"It's Commander now. And General Iroh, great hero of our nation." The 'Zhao' guy gave Iroh a bow of respect. I sneered. Everything about this guy read 'but kisser.'

"Retired General." Iroh corrected, smiling as he returned the bow.

"The Fire Lord's brother, son, and whoever that is," Zhao gestured to me before continuing, "Are welcome guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?" Zhao asked. There was venom in his voice. It made me gag.

"Our ship is being prepared." Iroh replied, gesturing to the ship.

"That's quite a bit of damage." He responded curiously.

"Yes! You wouldn't believe what happened!" Zuko and Iroh seemed incapable of a telling a good lie. "Ryuu!" I started, as Zuko had never addressed me by my name before. "Tell commander Zhao what happened!" Zuko ordered.

"It was incredible!" I faked a face of awe. "We were attacked by an Earth Kingdom ship." I was about to regale him with some thrilling details, but he stopped me.

"Is that so?" Zhao asked. He looked skeptical and he studied my face. "You must regale me with all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?" He asked.

"Sorry, but we have to go…" I muttered in Zhao's face. Zuko and I were both about to leave, but Iroh stopped us.

"Show commander Zhao your respect!" Iroh commanded. Zuko and I both stopped. _Shut up! _I willed Iroh not to accept Zhao's invitation. "We would be honored to join you." Iroh told Zhao. "Do you have any Ginseng tea? It's my favorite." Iroh walked off with Zhao, leaving Zuko and I standing there.

"Any chance that I might be able to get out of this?" I asked Prince Zuko.

"Unfortunately, this meeting is inevitable." Zuko grumbled. Much to my annoyance, we were both made to follow Zhao. He led us to a red tent with a golden fire nation insignia on it. We both sighed.

"…And by year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule." Zhao finished. I hadn't been listening to a single thing he had been saying. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war."

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!" Zuko snapped. I chuckled and guzzled down some tea. Zhao raised an eyebrow at me before sneering. I fought the urge to spit on the carpet at his feet.

"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue." Zhao snickered. "So… How is your search for the avatar going?" Zhao asked. In the background, Iroh knocked over a display of sharp, spear-like weapons. He muttered an apology before Zhao turned back towards us.

"Nothing yet…" I answered the question meant for Zuko. "You, ya got anymore of this stuff?" I asked, holding up my empty cup of tea. Zhao sneered again before ordering the guards to fetch more tea.

"Who are you anyway?" Zhao asked, glaring at me.

"Name's Ryuu." I responded. "Not a coin to my name!" I cheered as I downed another cup of tea. "And this stuff is _really_ good!"

"Pay him no mind." Zuko growled. "We found him floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of the ocean. Uncle said we had to take him in until he's feeling better. He should have left as soon as we ported." Zuko glared at me. I shrugged.

"Hey, I don't got anywhere to go. The longer I can hang around and mooch off you, the better my life will be. It doesn't help that I lost my memory, either." I shrugged as tried to defend myself. I refilled my teacup and took another swig. "Seriously, what did you do to this stuff?" I asked. I opened my mouth to continue, but just then another guard came in.

"Commander Zhao! We interrogated the crew as you instructed." The soldier reported. "They confirmed Prince Zuko had the avatar in custody, but let him escape." I scrambled to my feet and spit out my tea in mock surprise. It accidentally sprayed all over Zhao's face.

"That's preposterous!" I exclaimed. "Those earthbenders must have hit them harder than I thought!" I fought laughter. Zhao's face was dripping wet. Tea was running down his face and his side burns were hanging, wet and limp off the side of his face.

"Oh really?" Zhao asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked straight at me. I returned the glare. We looked at each other for a long time. "Then how come each crew member had the exact same story?" Zhao asked. He raised his eyebrows. _Monkey feathers! I didn't think that far ahead. _I searched for the answer, but none came. I sighed and looked at the floor. "Just as I suspected."

Tikaani's POV:

"Hey, stomach, be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food." Sokka snapped at his rumbling belly. He began to search through his bags for the blubbered seal jerky, which was not there. I knew because I had taken the liberty of stealing it before Aang lit the fire last night. I ate the whole bag for breakfast this morning. Devious, aren't I? I smiled devilishly as Sokka continued searching. He finally found the bag and dumped a few crumbs into the palm of his hand. "Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?"

"Oh, that was yours?" I asked curiously. I let out a loud burp that tasted- and probably smelled- like seal jerky. "Sorry!" I apologized in a singsong voice. I smirked and Sokka began to mutter to himself.

"You what?" Sokka's face was a mixture of anger and depression. "You've condemned me to starve!" He wailed, shooting me a ruthless and ravenous look.

"Look!" Aang cried, pointing at some mountains that were starting to jut out from behind the clouds. "The Patola Mountain range!" He exclaimed. We were getting closer to the Southern Air Temple. "We're almost there!"

"Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders." Katara began. She seemed nervous to continue. "I want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother. They could have done the same to your people." Katara finished sadly. I tried not to listen, knowing that this was hard for Aang to hear.

"Katara, its just like I told Tikaani this morning. Just because no one has seen an airbender, doesn't mean that the Fire Nation killed them all." Aang explained optimistically. "They probably escaped."

"I know it's hard to accept," I butted in, "But I don't think-"

"You don't understand." Aang retorted. "The only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison! Right, Appa?" Aang asked, petting him on the head. Appa replied with a loud, low roar. "Yip, yip!" Aang shouted, and Appa picked up speed. He soared above the mountain and I gaped at the temple with wide eyes. This was amazing! Sure, it had looked cool on the show, but now that it was actually in front of me, I was amazed. It was still anime, but it was _here_. It was right in front of me.

"It's so… so… Amazing!" I gaped at the scene before me. Katara and Sokka stared at it in astonishment as well. Aang closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose before speaking.

"We're home, buddy… We're home…" Aang said to Appa. He flew Appa down and we landed near the base of the temple. From there we had to walk up winding paths until we reached the temple. Aang was running faster than any of us. Sokka was trailing behind, muttering about starvation.

"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka asked, gripping his stomach.

"You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders ever to visit an airbender temple and all you can think about is food?" Katara asked, giving him a venomous look.

"Hey, I'm just a simple guy with simple-" Sokka was cut off as I stuck out my foot to trip him. He yelped in surprise and landed face first in the dirt. I laughed when he came up spitting out dust and mud. Katara laughed too. Sokka grumbled to himself as he got to his feet. He tried wiping dirt and mud off himself, but to no avail.

"That's where my friends and I play airball!" Aang exclaimed, pointing to different locations on the temple. Katara and I ran up to join him and see what he was pointing at. Sokka stayed behind, still trying to decontaminate himself. "And over there is where the bison would sleep and…" Aang trailed off. Something was troubling him and I knew what it was, but I dare not voice my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked. _Are you dense, woman? _I thought, looking at her.

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds." Aang looked around sadly as he took in his surroundings. I had to feel sorry for him. "I can't believe how things have changed…" Aang sighed. Sokka stopped worrying about the dirt and he walked up to Aang.

"So, uh… this airball game… how do you play?" Sokka asked. I had to hand it to him. He knew just what to say to cheer Aang up. Katara and I watched Sokka get blasted out of the game time and time again. Each time was just as funny as the last, if not more so. The seventh time Sokka was knocked out of the game, he landed farther away than he did the last couple times. Aang laughed and cheered. "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt…" Sokka stated miserably. Katara and I giggled, but just then Sokka stopped complaining. He crawled forward and looked at a mask that was lying in the snow. It was a Fire Nation helmet. I gulped before walking over to look at the helmet.

"The Fire Nation." I said. "They were here."

"We have to tell him." Sokka was right.

"Aang, there's something you need to see!" I called, but just as Aang began making his way over, Katara swiped a pile of snow over the helmet. She also managed to cover Sokka with the soft white powder.

"Check out this new waterbending move!" Katara said excitedly.

"Nice one, but enough practicing! We have a whole temple to see!" Aang cheered. I shook my head at Katara.

"He needs to know the truth. Hiding it from him will only hurt him later." I spat.

"He's not ready yet!" Katara retorted. I sighed.

"But you can't protect him forever." Sokka intervened. Katara stuck her tongue out at him like a child. I sighed. We followed Aang up to the temple. The entire way there, Sokka and I were trying to convince Katara to tell Aang the truth. "Firebenders were here, Katara. You can't pretend they weren't."

"I can for Aang's sake. If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated."

"Guys, I want you to meet somebody!" Aang called. I looked over to see the statue of Gyatso. I wondered how a statue would stand for a hundred years without being eroded, but then I remembered that this was an anime, so real science didn't apply.

"Who's that?" Sokka asked.

"Monk Gyatso." Aang replied informatively. "The greatest airbender in the world! He taught me everything I know." I resisted the urge to say 'so… not much?' because that would be rude. I sighed, knowing Aang was about to have his flashback. As soon as he spaced out, Katara and Sokka looked at each other, confused.

"What's he doing?" Sokka asked. Katara shrugged.

"He's probably thinking about the memories he had with Gyatso…" I trailed off. Even though I knew the truth, I couldn't say that Gyatso was gone out loud. Aang might hear me. After his flashback, we were going to go to the Air Temple Sanctuary, where there was a chamber of statues for all the previous avatars.

"You must miss him." Katara said as Aang's flashback ended.

"Yeah…" Aang muttered. He began to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked.

"The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet." Aang explained. Katara and Sokka looked at each other, confused. I faked a curious face before following Aang. He led us through the halls, until we reached an odd set of double doors.

"No one could have survived in there for a hundred years." I said. "It's not physically possible."

"It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long." Aang stated.

"Good point…" Katara agreed.

"Whoever's in there might help me figure out this avatar thing!" He exclaimed.

"And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious, cured meats!" Sokka started to charge at the door, but I grabbed him by the ear and dragged him backwards. He complained loudly.

"The Air Nomads were vegetarians." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "No one is going to have any meat." I let go of Sokka's ear and the first thing he did was charge toward the door, as if he hadn't heard a single thing I'd said. Sokka started pushing it.

"I don't suppose you have a key?" He wondered, turning to Aang.

"The key, Sokka, is airbending." Aang took a deep breath as he prepared to blast air at the door. Sokka scrambled out of the way and Aang used his powers to push the doors open. "Hello? Anyone home?" Aang asked as the four of us walked into the open doorway. I sighed this was so boring… Zuko would be challenging Zhao to an Agni Kai by now.

Ryuu's POV:

"So a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your firebenders. You're more pathetic than I thought." Zhao sneered. Zuko glared at him, hatred in his eyes.

"I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again." Zuko snapped.

"No it will not," Zhao agreed, "Because you won't have a second chance."

"Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the avatar for two years and I've-"

"And you failed!" Zhao shouted angrily. He swiped his arm to the side and a stream of fire followed it to show that his statement was definite. He would not let Zuko get in his way. "Capturing the avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now." Zuko leaped out of his seat, charging at Zhao. Two guards immediately came to restrain him. "Keep them here." Zhao ordered.

"Afraid we'll try to stop you?" I sneered. Zhao ignored me and left the tent. As soon as he was gone, Zuko kicked over a tea table. "More tea please!" I called. The guards left to fetch us some more tea. "How hospitable!" I exclaimed. Zuko turned his head and glared at me. Zhao returned a short while later.

"My search party is ready." He informed us. "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go." I clenched my fists and resisted the urge to punch this guy in the face.

"Why?" Zuko asked. "Are you worried I'm going to try to stop you?" Zuko sneered. I resisted the urge to protest the fact that he kind of stole my line. I also got mad when Zhao reacted to him, but not to me. He was laughing.

"You? Stop me? Impossible." Zhao chuckled evilly.

"Don't underestimate me, Zhao." Zuko sneered. "I will capture the avatar before you!" He snapped. Iroh stood up to calm Zuko down, but I remained seated.

"Prince Zuko, that's enough!" Iroh tried to calm him, but to no avail.

"You can't compete with me." Zhao continued. "I have hundreds of warships under my command and you- you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you."

"You're wrong! Once I deliver the avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor… And restore my rightful place on the throne!" Zuko finished triumphantly.

"If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, avatar or no avatar." Zhao growled. "But in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"That's not true!" Zuko protested pointlessly.

"You have the scar to prove it." Zhao countered. Zuko let out a shout of rage before rising to look at Zhao, face to face.

"Maybe you'd like one to match!" He challenged. Everything about him screamed anger. His fists were clenched and his eyebrow was lowered. His good eye was a slit, almost matching his scarred one.

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao asked.

"An Agni Kai!" Zuko shouted. "At sunset."

"Very well." Zhao agreed. "It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle, and your peasant pet will do." Zhao smiled before lumbering off. Iroh walked up to Zuko.

"Prince Zuko! Have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

"I will never forget." Zuko replied. I gulped before walking over to Iroh.

"So what happened to Zuko?" I whispered. "What did his father do to him? Who gave him his scar? What's an Agni Kai?" Iroh opened his mouth to respond, but Zuko cut him off.

"Shut up, peasant." Zuko sneered. "Isn't it about time you left?"

"Very well…" I moved to take a few steps towards the entrance, but the guards wouldn't move out of my way. "Or not…" I sighed. _Looks like I'm stuck with him for a while longer…_ I thought.

Tikaani's POV:

I stared around at all the statues. They were all extremely tall. Every footstep echoed in the cavernous space.

"Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?" Sokka asked ungratefully. I pushed him to the ground. "Hey, what was that for?" Sokka asked.

"Being annoying." I replied.

"Who are all these people?" Katara asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" I wondered aloud. They looked at me curiously, so I elaborated for them. "These are all the past avatars. They're Aang's past lives. You see they're lined up in a cycle. Air, water, earth and fire... It's the avatar cycle."

"Wow!" Aang exclaimed. "There are so many of them!"

"Past lives? You really believe in that stuff?" Sokka asked, annoyed.

"Its true!" Katara and I protested. I let Katara continue. "When the avatar dies, he's reincarnated to the next nation in the cycle." She explained. A little ways away, Aang was staring at the statue of avatar Roku.

"Its avatar Roku…" He said, sort of dazed. "The avatar before me."

"You were a firebender?" Sokka asked. "No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met!" He concluded. "Wait a minute, how did you know his name?" Sokka asked. "I don't see any writing."

"I'm not sure… I just know it some how."

"You just couldn't get any weirder!" Sokka protested. Katara and I rolled our eyes. We were staring at the statue, but suddenly, I heard a noise. I knew that it was just a lemur. Of course the others were dumb enough to think his shadow was a firebender. They jumped behind statues and remained hidden, but I stayed in plain sight. "Tikaani, hide!" Sokka urged. I shook my head.

"It's just one firebender. We have two waterbenders, an airbender, and Sokka. We can take him." I knew it was just a lemur, but I really loved playing hero. Of course, that would probably not always be a good thing. It might end up getting me captured, which I couldn't help but think sounded like a fun experience. I mean being captured is scary and all, but not as much when you know someone will come to rescue you.

"She's right!" Aang agreed and he jumped out. "Ready on one… two… three… Wait!" Aang almost blasted air, but he watched, as the shadow grew smaller. Suddenly, a lemur peaked around the corner and into the room. "Lemur!" Aang cried excitedly.

"Dinner!" Sokka chimed in, drooling.

"Don't listen to him!" Aang coaxed. "You're gonna be my new pet!"

"Not if I get him first!" Sokka cried, leaping out from behind his statue. The two began the high-speed chase and the lemur fled. Katara and I watched, shaking our heads. It was a short while after they left that the statues' eyes started glowing.

"Aang!" Katara cried. We both turned and fled the air temple sanctuary. We ran through the halls until we reached the spot where Aang was hovering far above the ground. A tornado of air circled him and the wind lashed us with card, sharp tongues. Katara and I grabbed hold of a rock formation to keep from being blown off the mountain.

"What happened?" Katara asked Sokka. He was clinging to the same chunk of rock that we were clinging to.

"Aang found out that firebenders killed Gyatso!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh no! It's his avatar spirit. He must have triggered it. I'm going to try and calm him down!" Katara explained.

"Do it before he blows us off the mountain!" Sokka cried. The winds seemed to pick up just as he said that and his fingers were slipping. "Help!" I grabbed one of his hands and helped him hold on to the rock formation. _Hurry, Katara!_

"Aang, I know you're upset. I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! I went through the same thing when I lost my mom!" Katara looked down before she looked back up at Aang. "Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Tikaani, Sokka and I… We're your family now." She finished. The winds seemed to lessen and Aang floated back towards the ground. He stood on the ground, his arrows still glowing.

"Katara, Tikaani and I aren't going to let anything happen to you." Sokka said to Aang. "I promise." Katara grabbed Aang's hand. His arrows and eyes stopped glowing. He wasn't upset anymore. Now, he was just sad.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay." Katara soothed him. "It wasn't your fault."

"But you and Tikaani were right." Aang whispered mournfully. "And if firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones too. I really am the last airbender." Aang closed his eyes sadly. Katara hugged him and Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder. I put my hand on his shoulder too. This was depressing.

In a little while, we were ready to leave. Momo gave Sokka some much needed and appreciated food. We all started laughing when the little lemur stole a piece of fruit from Sokka. Then we boarded Appa and we left the Southern Air Temple. Aang stared back at it as we left and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Ryuu's POV:

"Remember you're firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapon." Iroh was speaking to Zuko before the battle was to start.

"I refuse to let him win." Zuko snapped. The sun was setting. When the two faced each other, they were both shirtless.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked Iroh.

"Yes. It is tradition for firebenders to fight an Agni Kai with their shirts off." Iroh explained. "Unless one of the firebenders is a girl. Then the male must keep his shirt on as a sign of respect."

"So what exactly is an Agni Kai?"

"A fire duel." He told me.

"So they're going to chuck flames at each other until one of them falls over?" I needed to clarify things.

"Yup, pretty much." Iroh concluded. I snorted in laughter. Iroh motioned for me to be quiet before the actual chucking began.

"This will be over quickly." Zhao grimaced as he faced Zuko. A guard rung a gong and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments. Zuko chucked the first fireball. Zhao dodged it easily. Zuko shot a couple more and Zhao faced these, easily fending them off. Zuko kicked a line of fire at him and he firebended it out of his way before shooting his first fireball. Zuko kicked more flames in Zhao's direction, but the commander shot flames out of his hand to block them. The Prince had thrown so many blows he was beginning to pant, but Zhao had only just warmed up.

"Basics, Zuko!" Iroh shouted. Zuko glared at Zhao, not seeming to hear Iroh. Zhao blasted a fireball, but Zuko shrugged it off. Zhao stepped forward and aimed another one. This one was stronger, but Zuko shrugged it off, although this time, the blast pushed him back a couple inches. Zhao shot two more, each twice as powerful as the last. Zuko tumbled and skidded across the dirt.

"Come on, get up!" I cheered. I hated Zuko, but I hated Zhao more. He slowly tried to sit up, but when he looked up, Zhao was jumping straight towards him. He let out a gasp of surprise as Zhao landed in front of him. Zhao blasted fire straight towards Zuko's face and I thought for sure that he'd have a matching scar on the opposite side of his face. But the prince pulled a surprise move. He pushed himself up on one hand, twisted in mid air and swiped Zhao's feet right out from under him. Even after the mid-air twist, Zuko managed to land on his feet. He pushed Zhao backwards until the commander landed on the ground. Zuko stood over him and aimed a fist at his face, but he didn't let loose any flames.

"Do it!" Zhao sneered. Zuko shot a fireball at him, but he hit the ground behind Zhao's head instead. "That's it? Your father raised a coward."

"Next time you get in my way, I promise… I won't hold back." He said before turning around to walk away. I watched in silence. _He should have done it. _I thought. _He should have given that snobby commander what he deserved. He should have_\- I stopped. I was looking at Zhao, and he was rising to his feet. _Oh, no you don't!_ I thought. I ran in front of Zuko and blasted the fire backwards. I hadn't even realized that Iroh was right beside me. Iroh pushed Zhao to the ground. Zuko growled and rushed forward. He would have given Zhao that scar right then, but Iroh jumped in front of him.

"No, Prince Zuko! Do not take your victory." Iroh told him. Iroh turned around to face Zhao. "So this is how the great Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more _honorable_ than you."

"Yeah, so go crawl back to the hole you came from, you filthy rat viper!" I snarled. It felt good to insult him, but then I remembered the tea. "And thanks for the tea. It was delicious." I was surprised that Iroh and I said the same thing at the same time. Zhao gave us no further problems as we left the arena.

"Did you really mean that, uncle?" Zuko asked.

"Of course. I told you ginseng tea is my favorite." Iroh said.

"I'd say jasmine is mine, but ginseng comes at a close second!" I piped up. Zuko turned around and glared at me. He opened his mouth to say something. Iroh cut him off.

"Perhaps Ryuu should stay with us for a while." Iroh said.

"What?" Zuko and I both asked. We looked at Iroh in astonishment, and then we glared at each other. "Why would I let him stay on my ship?" Zuko snarled.

"He can come as a benefit to us." Iroh said. "He has proven himself to be an excellent liar and a strong firebender. He would come in handy."

"I'm right here, ya know." I chimed in. Zuko didn't seem to notice.

"I suppose you're right. He can stay." Zuko's eyes narrowed at me. "But if you don't pull your weight around my ship, you'll regret it." He growled. I shrugged.

"I can do that." I agreed. It's not like I had anywhere else to go. I followed the two aboard their ship and we sailed off. _Maybe I'll be able find out something about my past while I'm traveling with them. Like how I ended up in the middle of the ocean. And maybe I'll remember something…Something about where I came from_…I thought to myself. My memory was limited now, but I was starting to wonder about my own family. _Where are they?_


	5. Chapter 04: Flashbacks on Kyoshi

**Chapter four! I added a bit of my own stuff to this chapter, so I hope you like it! Thanks for all the great reviews, they really help!**

**Shoutout to Smoke- Great reviews, thanks for pointing out my errors! Could you please stop calling Ryuu and Tikaani amnesia boy and squealing fangirl, though? I mean... I post their names at least two or three times in ever chapter. Couldn't hurt to use them. :)**

Tikaani's POV:

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asked, looking at Aang.

"Well… I know its near water." Aang replied. I let out a snort of laughter.

"I guess we're getting close then!" I mumbled sarcastically. For miles, the only thing we could see was water. I searched across the horizon for any sign of Zuko's ship. My efforts were futile, as his ship was nowhere to be seen. I know what you're thinking, but I wasn't looking for Zuko this time. I was looking for Ryuu. I didn't want Aang, Katara and Sokka to think of him as an enemy the entire time. If I could just get him to switch sides right now…

"Stop bugging her, airhead, you need to give girls space when they're doing their sewing." Sokka interrupted my thoughts. I realized that I had missed Aang's marble trick.

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara asked irritably.

"Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things." Sokka explained. I rolled my eyes. He'd find out soon enough when the Kyoshi Warriors kicked his butt on Kyoshi Island.

"All done with your pants!" Katara exclaimed. "And look what a great job I did!" She cheered, showing Sokka the gaping hole in the side of them. She hurled them at his face.

"I-I was just kidding, I can't wear these, Katara, please-"

"Relax, Sokka! Where we're going, you won't need any pants." Aang chimed in. I couldn't help but notice Katara's look of terror and Sokka's confused face. Suddenly, Appa began to fly downwards. We all landed on a snowy, mountainous island. It was Kyoshi Island. The others jumped off of Appa's saddle, but I continued to relax with my feet propped on the edge of the saddle.

"We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka asked.

"He's right. At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until spring."

"But Appa's tired already. Aren't ya boy?" Aang asked, looking at Appa. Appa stood there and made a slight, small grunt. "I said 'aren't ya boy?'" Aang nudged Appa and he opened his mouth to let out a huge yawn.

"Yeah, that was real convincing. Still… Hard to argue with a two ton magical monster." Sokka stated. Aang cheered and he leaped into the lake. I couldn't resist the urge to watch as I peered over the edge of the saddle. Aang was riding the elephant kois, but soon, the unagi showed up. I completely ignored him, as I already knew that he was going to be fine. It disappeared as soon as Aang was out of the water.

"What was that thing?" Katara wondered aloud.

"Well let's not stick around to find out." Sokka grumbled. "Time to hit the road." I ducked down in the saddle when I saw the Kyoshi Warriors jump down from the trees. They made quick work of Aang, Katara, Sokka and Momo. "Or we could… stay awhile…" Sokka muttered.

"Not so fast!" I yelled as I leaped off of Appa's saddle. I opened the waterbending pouch that I had attained from Katara and Sokka's gran-gran. I tried to make a water whip, but we didn't have the waterbending scroll, so I didn't quite know how. The Kyoshi Warriors tied me up too. I sighed. "Well that wasn't a waste of time at all." I said to myself. They carried the four of us back to Kyoshi Village.

"You three have some explaining to do." A grumpy voice said. I wanted to take my blindfold off, but I was incapable of doing such a thing when my hands were so tightly tied.

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi." Suki's voice shouted.

"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka snapped. They ripped off our blindfolds and Sokka stared at them, wide-eyed. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" Sokka asked.

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down." Sokka laughed.

"A bunch of girls, huh? The unagi's gonna eat well tonight!" Suki snapped, grabbing Sokka's coat and getting in his face.

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it!" Katara protested.

"Yeah, he's just an idiot!" I added on.

"Hey!" Sokka complained. Suki let go of him.

"Its my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi." Aang explained. The old man was not impressed.

"How do we know you are not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far and we intend to keep it that way!" He stated firmly.

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang exclaimed.

"He's the avatar." I butted in, before they asked any more questions. I just wanted to get these uncomfortable ropes off of my hands.

"That's impossible!" Suki retorted. "The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!"

"That's me!" Aang smiled.

"Throw the imposter to the unagi!" The old man ordered. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors prepared their fans.

"Aang… Do some airbending!" Katara muttered urgently. Aang responded by kicking a blast of air out of his feet. The crowd gaped at him with wide eyes and surprised faces.

"It's true!" The old man gasped. "You are the avatar!"

"Now, check this out!" Aang exclaimed. He took out his marbles and started airbending them in a circle. He then turned toward the crowd and smiled. They began cheering loudly. One of them even began foaming at the mouth until he passed out. I chuckled. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors cut the ropes binding us and we were thankfully not fed to the unagi.

Ryuu's POV:

"Zuko!" I slammed open the door to his quarters. He looked up at me and narrowed his eyes.

"You better have good reason for interrupting us!" Zuko snarled.

"Okay, first of all, I brought you your dinner, second of all, would it kill you to say please or thank you?" I asked. Seriously, I don't even know if this stupid prince knows _how _to say the word 'please', or 'thank you', or 'your welcome'.

"Ryuu is right, Prince Zuko. You must practice your manners." Iroh agreed. "I can demonstrate for you, if you wish. Ryuu, would you please put the fish on the table?" Iroh asked me. I was more than obliged to do as he asked. "Thank you, Ryuu." He said, dipping his head. I dipped my head to him in turn. Zuko glared at us with an angry look plastered onto his face. I snickered.

"Now _please_ leave us in peace." Zuko sneered the word please, but at least he was improving. Of course, I couldn't leave quite yet because I still had a certain bit of information to tell Zuko.

"And I needed to tell you something. Hm… What was it, what was it…" I pretended to be trying to remember it. "Oh, yeah, the avatar is on Kyoshi Island."

"The avatar is on Kyoshi Island?" Zuko asked as he rose to his feet. "Ryuu, ready the rhinos! He's not-"

"What's the magic word?" I asked tauntingly.

"Please ready the rhinos!" He snapped viciously before heading towards the door.

"Are you going to finish that?" Iroh asked, pointing at the roasted fish. Zuko stomped back in and took the fish.

"I was going to save for later!" He shouted unnecessarily before leaving the room. Iroh crossed his arms and pouted. I fought the urge to laugh as I left the room to prepare the rhinos.

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up the next morning and peered out the window. The people of Kyoshi were cleaning up the statue of avatar Kyoshi. I ignored the sounds of eating behind me. Katara and Aang were stuffing their faces. I wasn't hungry. What was Ryuu doing right now? Was he still on Zuko's ship, or did Zuko throw him overboard? I knew how ruthless Zuko could be. If Ryuu didn't do what Zuko told him to do, there was no telling what could happen. It didn't help that Ryuu and Zuko were both stubborn sixteen-year olds with anger issues. Not the best combination.

"Sokka? Tikaani? What are you guys' problems? You gotta eat!" Aang exclaimed.

"I'm not hungry." Sokka grumbled. I sighed before walking over and eating some of the food. It tasted good, but it didn't help me feel any better.

"But you're always hungry!" Aang exclaimed.

"He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday." Katara stated smugly.

"They snuck up on me!" Sokka shouted.

"Right. And then they kicked your butt." Katara replied.

"Sneak attacks don't count!" Sokka cried. It managed to make me laugh a little. "Tie me up with ropes…" Sokka muttered, getting to his feet. "I'll show them a thing or two…" He stomped over towards the door, but before he did, he walked back to the table. "I'm not scared of any girls… Who do they think they are, anyway?" He snatched some things off the table and shoved them into his mouth. "Mmm... This is tasty…" He mumbled as he stomped away.

"What's he so angry about?" Aang asked "Its great here. They're giving us the royal treatment."

"Hey, don't get too comfortable." Katara cautioned. "It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long."

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town? They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor!" He exclaimed happily.

"Don't let it go to your head." I warned, popping into the conversation.

"Come on, you both know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk." He said before walking to the window. A crowd of girls cheered when he waved at them. _Simple monk, my butt…_ Katara stuck out her tongue.

After that, they followed Aang around everywhere. It was so creepy. I of course, was helping Katara shop for groceries and other things that we would need for the trip to the North Pole. She confided in me that she hadn't trusted me at first because outsiders rarely ever came to her village. I agreed that I probably wouldn't have trusted her if I had met her in the Northern Water Tribe.

"What's it like there, anyway?" Katara asked.

"I don't really know…" I confessed. For some reason, I seemed not to be in control of what I was saying anymore. "We left when we were really little."

"We? You mean you and your family? What happened to them?"

"I don't want to talk about it…" I sighed. As soon as I had finished talking, the inability to control what I was saying left me. It was an odd sensation. I tried to figure out what it meant, but I could only think of one thing. It was impossible, but it was the only thing I could think of. _I'm getting woven into the plotline. _I thought. _I have a script now that I'm in the show. That means… I'm going to actually have a past here, and I'm going to remember it. Maybe that's what happened to Ryuu. He forgot his past in the real world and now he has a past in the show._

"Well… If you ever need to talk about it, you can talk to me." I nodded. She walked away and I knew immediately after that, a flashback would come. I closed my eyes and let it. I needed to know what my past was on this show. This was the only way…

It was an icy cold winter day. A small breeze could send chills up and down my spine. We were following someone. She was a tall woman with brown hair. She was swearing Water Tribe clothing, but her skin was pale white, unlike anyone else in the Water Tribe. I could see her breath, but that wasn't because of the cold. It was because her breath was smoke. She was a firebender, but she was much more than that. She was my mother.

"Why do we have to come out here to train, mommy?" I asked in a childlike voice. Our mother stopped to look at us.

"We cannot train near the village. Woman are not aloud to know how to waterbend, and they cannot find out that Ryuu and I are firebenders." I looked next to me, where Ryuu was standing against the wind. He seemed confident, ready to fight, ready to practice his firebending. I got into a stance and prepared to practice waterbending. I bent very small amounts of snow while Ryuu shot tiny fireballs from his fist. We were young, only about five years old, so we weren't the strongest of benders.

When our mother took us back home, we found out that someone had been watching us. They had discovered the secret of my mother's firebending, and that Ryuu was a firebender as well. The three of us were banished from the Northern Water Tribe.

I opened my eyes and the flashback was over. _So that's why we left the North Pole, but why is Ryuu with Zuko? We left the North Pole together. We must have been split up along the way. _I pondered further. _So where are our parents?_ I sighed and tried to forget the flashback for now. I needed to focus right now, focus on helping Ryuu get his memory back. I walked down the stairs, but stopped, as Katara and Aang seemed to be having an argument.

"Katara… remember how the unagi almost got me yesterday?" Aang asked.

"Yeah." Katara seemed not to care. She remained focused on playing with her water. I remained silent as I watched the scene unfold.

"Well… I'm going to go ride it now. It's gonna be real dangerous."

"Good for you." Katara muttered.

"You're not gonna stop me?" He seemed almost disappointed.

"Nope. Have fun." Katara grumbled.

"I will." Aang snapped.

"Great." Katara retorted.

"I know its great." Aang responded.

"Well, I'm glad you know."

"I'm glad you're glad."

"Good."

"Fine!" Aang shouted unnecessarily before stomping out of the room. He caused Katara to lose concentration on her waterbending. The water sloshed back into the bowl and Katara stared at the ground bitterly. I tried to sneak down the stairs without her noticing, but I stepped on a creaky board and she whipped around to face me.

"Where do you think you're going?" She snapped.

"I need some time to myself." I replied. My voice sounded distant. I left the room and headed down towards the beach. Once I was there I climbed a tree and looked out over the ocean. Zuko's ship would arrive as soon as Katara saved Aang from the unagi. Right now all of Aang's fan girls had left and Katara was standing on the shore, waiting for Aang to swim back.

"Well get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!" She exclaimed. Aang smiled from ear to ear. He had just started to swim back when the unagi showed up. Aang was swept into the air by the enormous creature. I was reminded of a shiny Rayquaza.

"Get out of there!" I cried, sliding down the trunk of the tree. Aang tried, but the unagi fired water at him and he had to struggle to hold on to the great beast. The unagi snapped at him and Aang managed to avoid getting eaten by grabbing onto one of the unagi's whiskers. The beast thrashed its head around, trying to loosen Aang's grip. Eventually he succeeded. The young monk was thrown through the air. He crashed onto the water and floated there, motionless.

"Aang!" Katara cried. She charged into the water to save him. By the time she got to Aang, the unagi had reached them. She created a huge wave of water to wash them to the shore, where the unagi wouldn't be able to reach them. He sprayed water at them, but suddenly, the unagi left. I ran over to the rocks they were hiding amongst. "Why did the unagi leave?" Katara asked. I looked out at the bay. A black Fire Navy ship was approaching the dock.

"Zuko…" I muttered.

"Who's Zuko?" Katara asked in confusion. I realized that she had not yet heard Zuko's name mentioned.

"The scarred firebender who tried to capture Aang at the South Pole."

"How do you know his name?" Katara wondered.

"He's the prince of the Fire Nation. Everyone knows who he is." I explained to Katara. "He's probably here for Aang." I watched nervously as the ship opened on the shore and a bunch of komodo rhinos charged out of the ship. _Now is my chance to confront Ryuu._

Ryuu's POV:

"I want the avatar alive!" Zuko ordered.

"Wouldn't it be easier if he were dead, though?" I wondered aloud. "Think about it. If he's alive, then he can escape. If he's dead, he can't do anything to stop us." I took pleasure in Zuko's enraged face. He hated when I questioned him. I would never actually think of killing someone, though.

"If he died, he would just be reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. If we keep him alive and imprisoned, he won't be able to bother us." Zuko snapped.

"I knew that." I chuckled. Zuko sneered at me from atop his rhino. I stuck my tongue out at him from atop mine. He narrowed his eyes and turned forward, concentrating on searching for the young avatar. He stopped his rhino after we passed the weird statue and looked around.

"Come out avatar!" He called. "You can't hide from me forever!" Nothing moved. Zuko looked around, but no one showed himself or herself. If I hadn't seen people peeping out the windows, I would have thought the island abandoned. "Find him!" Zuko ordered. I kicked my rhino to make it move forward. I looked at the buildings, searching for a sign of something. I noticed a flash of something white down a narrow alleyway. I jumped off the saddle and walked into the alleyway. At the end, sat a lemur.

"Stupid lemur." I snarled. I wondered if he'd make a good snack. "How good do you taste?" I asked.

"He's not food." I spun around to see a Water Tribe girl standing there. Her skin seemed a bit lighter than normal water tribe skin, as if she wasn't pure Water Tribe. That's when I realized that I recognized her. She was traveling with the avatar and she was the one who seemed familiar.

"Who are you?" I stormed. I needed to know.

"You really _don't_ know then, do you?" She whispered. She seemed slightly hurt. _Who is she?_ I racked my brains, but I couldn't think. I couldn't remember.

"No!" I admitted angrily. "I don't think I do."

"Look into my eyes. Look into them, then tell me that you don't know who I am!" She demanded. I looked into her bright blue eyes, but I was drawing a blank.

"I have no idea who you are!" I snapped, but I did not tear my gaze from her eyes. They were searching mine as well as I was searching hers, but still nothing came. I stared into them for a moment longer. Nothing.

"Try harder!" She insisted. I closed my eyes and looked away. For a split second I saw an image of ice and snow. A girl and a boy around the age of six were sitting around a pile of sticks. It was an unlit campfire.

"I'm cold, Ryuu." Her voice echoed in my head.

"Don't worry. Watch this." The boy held out his hand and a flame appeared in it. He lit the sticks and warmth filled the air around them. They snuggled closer, but then the vision faded.

"Do you remember now?" She asked.

"Yes… No… I don't know!" I wailed.

"Please, just-"

"No!" I interrupted her. "Leave me alone!" I flicked my hands and they became alight with flames. I hurled a fireball at her and she waterbended a string of water from her pouch to block it. As soon as the flames hit the water, however, the water popped like a bubble and fell to the ground.

"I see." The girl mumbled to herself. She didn't try to attack me again. _She's just too scared of my firebending skill! _I thought, but what the girl said next ended up scaring me more than any bending skills. "Goodbye, Ryuu. Next time, I will not take it easy on you." With that, the girl walked out of the alleyway. _How did she know my name? _I thought as I trudged out of the alley to see that most of the buildings were burned, and some of the firebenders were unconscious.

"Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko ordered. I jumped atop my rhino and charged back to the ship, stopping to pick up unconscious soldiers on the way. As we made our way back to the ship, a giant black serpent sprayed water on the village to put out the fire. Zuko narrowed his eyes and grumbled to himself about getting his uniform wet. He continued to do so the entire way back to the ship and I chuckled. "Return the rhinos." Zuko ordered. Surprisingly enough, he was not talking to me. I began to trudge towards my room, which was directly across from Zuko's. Iroh had ordered Zuko to allow me to stay there.

"Who was she?" I asked myself as I closed the door. "And how did she know my name?"


	6. Chapter 05: Spiritual Difficulties

Tikaani's POV:

King Bumi was even crazier than I had imagined him. I wished we could have stayed in Omashu for a while longer, but we had to leave. We encountered Haru and his father's prison break took up a lot of time. I assumed that Zuko had picked up Katara's necklace by now, as she had lost it during the prison break. We couldn't worry about that now, though. We were once again a hundred percent focused on getting to the North Pole.

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" Katara wondered out loud. "Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap."

"Maybe you should give it a try." Sokka mused. Katara narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're hilarious." Katara mumbled sarcastically.

"I'll try it!" Aang exclaimed. He grabbed his glider and leaped from Appa's back, right into a particularly large bunch of clouds. In a few moments he returned, soaking wet. "Turns out clouds are made of water." He stated, airbending the water out of his clothes. Katara and Sokka stared at him. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Hey, what's that?" I asked, directing my attention to the ground. Part of the forest we were flying over was charred and burned, like an old scar. It reminded me of Zuko. It reminded me of Ryuu.

"Its like a scar…" Sokka muttered. I sighed.

"Yeah… a scar…" I trailed off. The others didn't seem to notice how out of it I was. We all flew down to the burnt forest and walked around.

"Listen… It's so quiet. There's no life anywhere." Sokka looked around. He noticed the tracks that obviously belonged to komodo rhinos. "Fire Nation!" He exclaimed. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"

"Shut up, Sokka!" I shouted. He glared at me, but then I pointed at Aang. He looked at Aang. The young monk was sitting on the ash-covered ground. He sighed.

"Why would anyone do this?" Aang asked. "How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen." Katara soothed as she walked closer. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Yes it does!" Aang retorted. "It's the avatar's job to protect nature. I don't know how to do my job." Aang muttered morosely.

"That's why we're going to the North Pole. To find you a teacher." Katara continued. I could tell she was trying her hardest to cheer him up.

"A waterbending teacher. No one can teach me how to be the avatar. Monk Gyatso said that avatar Roku would help me." Aang muttered.

"So you just need to find a way to talk to Roku." I stated simply. Sokka and Katara stared at me like I was an idiot. "What? Its not impossible." Sokka made a circular motion with his finger to signify that I was 'coo coo.' Katara rolled her eyes. As she did so, she noticed an acorn sticking out of the ashes. She rushed over to pick it up.

"Hey, Aang… Are you ready to be cheered up?" Katara asked.

"No…" Aang grumbled. Katara chucked an acorn at Aang's head. "Ow!" He yelped in pain. "Hey, how is that cheering me up?" He asked bitterly. Sokka chuckled.

"Cheered me up." He stated. Katara chucked an acorn at his head. "Ow! Yeah, I probably deserved that…" He admitted.

"Wait, those are acorns!" I exclaimed. "They grow into trees!"

"That means that the forest will grow back." Katara explained. "Every one of these will be a tall oak tree some day. And all the birds and animals that lived here will come back." She handed Aang the acorn. He took it and examined it before smiling.

"Thanks, Katara." Aang said. Katara smiled, but she let out a gasp as she heard footsteps and a man walked up to us.

"Who are you?" I asked, even though I already knew.

"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible!" He said.

"Weird. Usually when people see things, they consider them possible." I ducked as Katara chucked an acorn at me. "Hey, that's dangerous!"

"Those markings… Are you the avatar, child?" The old man seemed not to have noticed my rude comment. Aang nodded. "My village desperately needs your help!"

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle, it's time to leave, where are you? Uncle Iroh!" Zuko shouted. I followed him and rolled my eyes.

"Is that shouting really necessary?" I asked. Zuko shot me a glare before calling out for his uncle once again.

"Over here!" Iroh called.

"Uncle?" Zuko echoed himself. I looked around him to see Iroh relaxing in a steaming hot spring. "We need to move on! We're closing in on the avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him!" He grumbled irritably.

"You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?" Iroh asked.

"My troubles can not be soaked away!" Zuko snapped.

"Mine can!" I cried. I began to take my shirt off, but Zuko grabbed my arm and pulled me backward. "Oh, come on, I wanna soak away my troubles!" I complained loudly.

"It's time to go!" Zuko stormed.

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little." Iroh smiled. "The temperature is just right. I heated it myself." Iroh informed before blowing smoke out of his nostrils and causing steam to drift over to where Zuko and I stood. Zuko swiped his hand and cleared the smoke.

"We need to leave _now_!" Zuko complained. "Get out of the water!" He ordered.

"Very well." Iroh agreed. He stood out of the water and Zuko's immediate reaction was to turn his head and block the view with his hand. I simply closed my eyes and wished I hadn't seen what I'd just seen.

"On second thought… Why don't you take another few minutes?" Zuko turned around as he walked away. "But be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you!" He almost left me there, but just before he left he grabbed the neck of my uniform and dragged me back to the ship.

Tikaani's POV:

The old man led us to his village. I looked around at the dilapidated buildings that had been destroyed by the Hei Bai. He took us to a large building that I assumed to be town hall. The four of us followed him inside and looked around at the villagers. They all seemed distraught and wary. I knew that I had to help them.

"This young person," the old man began, "Is the avatar!"

"So the rumors of your return are true! It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence." Another man said as he walked up. Suddenly I felt like everyone was staring at us. I shivered slightly.

"Nice to meet you too!" Aang mused. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm not sure…" The strange man trailed off.

"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" The old man reasoned. He turned toward Aang to continue. "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He's Hei Bai. The black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka inquired.

"We do not know." The young man stepped in. "But each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"The solstice? But when the solstice comes, the borderline between the natural world and the spirit world is blurred almost completely.

"The Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen." He finished, looking sadly at the sun, which was dropping lower into the sky, even as we spoke.

"So… What do you want me to do exactly?" Aang wondered.

"Who better to resolve a crisis between the natural world and the spirit world than the avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits."

"Right… That's me…" Aang seemed so unsure of himself.

"Hey, great bridge guy? Can I talk to you over here for a second?" Katara butted in. Aang looked at us before walking over. "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all this."

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything at all about the spirit world. Its not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

"Can you really help these people?" I asked.

"I have to try, don't I?" Aang looked away. He sighed before continuing. "Maybe whatever I have to do will just come to me."

"I think you can do it, Aang." Katara chimed.

"Yeah…" I trailed off.

"We're all going to get eaten by a spirit monster, aren't we?" Sokka added. I elbowed him in the stomach causing him to double over in pain.

"Man up." I spat. Sokka pouted at me. I laughed.

"The sun's setting." Katara whispered. Aang gulped and sighed before he walked out of the building. I watched from the window, powerless to do anything. _Maybe I should get trapped in the spirit world instead of Sokka._ I thought to myself. _I really want to know what its like there…_

"Hello? Spirit? Can you hear me?" Aang called feebly. "This is the avatar speaking. I'm here to try to help stuff." Aang whispered.

"This isn't right." Sokka muttered.

"We shouldn't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up." I piped in. I was definitely getting captured in Sokka's place.

"If anyone can save us, he can." The old man promised, stepping forward.

"He still shouldn't have to face this alone!" Sokka countered. I watched as darkness fell over the village. The Hei Bai was still nowhere to be seen.

"The sun is set. Where are you, Hei Bai?" Aang called. The monster did not reveal itself. "Well, spirit, uh… I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!" He spun his staff before turning around to walk back to the village. Unfortunately for him, that was when the Hei Bai leaped out of the woods. I gaped at it. It was much bigger in person than it was on a TV screen. Aang continued walking towards the building for a little bit before he even realized the Hei Bai was there. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around. "You must be the Hei Bai spirit!" Aang smiled. "My name is-" He was interrupted as the Hei Bai blasted him with a ray of blue light. "My name is Aang! I'm the avatar and I would like to help! Hey, wait up!"

The Hei Bai completely ignored Aang. It proceeded to smash buildings and evaporate things with blue light. Aang chased after it and tried to talk, but the Hei Bai didn't even acknowledge him.

"It doesn't seem to interested in what he's saying." Sokka fretted.

"We need to help him!" I butted in.

"No! Only the avatar stands a chance against the Hei Bai." The old man bleated.

"I command you to turn around now!" Aang shouted. That seemed to get the Hei Bai's attention. With one brutal swipe, he sent the young airbender flying through the air. Aang smacked against a roof and slid onto the ground.

"That's it, I'm going whether you like it or not!" I snapped, leaping out of the window. Sokka followed in pursuit.

"Sokka, wait!" Katara cried. She grabbed Sokka's arm.

"What about Tikaani?" Sokka tried to break free of Katara's grasp, but the old man was holding him back too.

"Hey, Hei Bai!" I cried. "Turn your dirty hide around and fight me!" I bent a string of water out of a nearby water trough and tried to whip the Hei Bai with it. This did not work out as I lost control and only managed to get the Hei Bai soaking wet. That only seemed to anger him.

"Tikaani, go back!" Aang shouted.

"No! We'll fight him together!" I stated definitely.

"I don't want to fight him unless I-" Aang was cut off by a scream as the Hei Bai grabbed me and started to race away from the village. Aang immediately whipped out his glider and flew towards the forest.

"Tikaani!" Sokka shouted. He finally broke free of Katara's grasp and he ran out towards the forest, stopping when he reached the gates of the village. "Tikaani…"

"Aang!" I called out. "Help!" I knew I was going to end up in the spirit world, but I had to act convincing. I reached out my hand, but just as Aang grabbed it, the natural world disappeared and a spiritual blue mist surrounded me.

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle!" Zuko's enraged shouts echoed throughout the forest.

"Uncle, uncle!" I mocked Zuko. He turned around to glare at me before he continued his search. He swiped a branch aside and walked towards the now empty hot springs that Iroh had been soaking in earlier.

"Uncle Iroh, where are you?" Zuko asked, looking around.

"Look at those rocks!" I exclaimed. "There was a landslide."

"Land doesn't slide uphill." Zuko hissed.

"Oh, oh yeah… I knew that!" It was an obvious lie. "So wait, what happened?"

"Those rocks didn't move naturally. My uncle's been captured by earthbenders!" Zuko sneered. My mouth dropped open.

"But how could any earthbender capture the great Dragon of the West?"

"Shut up. Bring me a rhino!" Zuko ordered. I nodded and ran off as fast as I could. I prepared two rhinos and hopped atop one. I guided the other along side me. When I returned to Zuko, it was almost sunrise. "Why do you have two rhinos?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Because I'm coming too!" I explained.

"Fine." Zuko snapped. He was finally learning that I didn't take no for an answer. We headed off, following the ostrich horse tracks. The sun had just risen when Zuko stopped. A sandal was lying on the ground. He hopped off his rhino and sniffed it, before getting a disgusted face. "Yup, that's uncle Iroh."

"A sandal, lying in the middle of the road… Sure, just take a whiff!" I muttered sarcastically. Zuko narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. We continued on our way.

It was about midday when Zuko looked up at the sky. His eyes widened and I looked up curiously. A white bison flew through the air. It was the avatar. "The avatar!" Zuko pulled on the reins to turn the rhino around, but I pulled in front of him.

"What are you doing? We have to save your uncle!" I urged. "What's more important? The avatar, or your uncle's life?" For a few seconds, Zuko looked from the sky bison to the ostrich horse tracks. Then he looked at me.

"Follow the avatar's bison!" Zuko ordered. "Tell me where he's heading, then go straight back to the ship. Don't try anything stupid." He turned around and stomped off in the direction that the tracks led in.

"Hurry up, you stupid-" I began to try to rush my komodo rhino, but it looked up at me with red eyes. "I mean… Take as long as you want, you magnificent beast!" I followed the sky bison back to some stupid village. I waited until the sight was engraved into my memory before I rushed back to the ostrich horse trail. Luckily, there wasn't much distance between the two. Plus, I convinced my rhino to move faster so I doubled my time. I arrived just in time to see Prince Zuko kick a rock away from Iroh. I leaped down, landing on the chain in such a way that it snapped in two.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko, and Ryuu too." Iroh complimented.

"You taught me well." Zuko said, smiling slightly.

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." I advised before examining the situation. Three firebenders surrounded by five earthbenders. We were outnumbered… But not outmatched.

"Its five on two. You're clearly outnumbered."

"Ah, that's true… But you are clearly outmatched." Iroh smiled, flicking his arms so that the snake-like chains bound to them looked like whips. All at once, the earthbenders attacked. Iroh fended off boulders with his chains, Zuko kicked fireballs at some of the soldiers and I punched fireballs at others. Soon it was just the leader of the guards and us. He hurled rocks at both Zuko and I. We swerved and dodged, snuck in a couple fireballs, then swerved and dodged some more. He fended our fire off with his hat shield, and then raised a wall of earth into the air above us. Iroh's chain wrapped around one of his feet. He pulled the earthbender backwards, causing the rock wall to collapse on top of the earthbender.

"Now would you please put on some clothes?" Zuko asked. I laughed.

Tikaani's POV:

The spirit world was awful. I was trapped in a thick fog no matter where I ran; I couldn't find any people anywhere. I was alone with my own thoughts. The fog did something funky to my head. I started thinking crazy. Luckily it didn't last long and soon I was back in the real world.

"What happened?" I was way discombobulated.

"Tikaani!" Sokka exclaimed. He ran up to me and I had to duck to avoid a hug.

"You were trapped in the spirit world for twenty four hours." Katara explained.

"Whoa… I gotta pee." I stated flatly before walking off. I came back refreshed and relieved. The village was gathered to say goodbye.

"Thank you, avatar." The young villager thanked him. "If only there were a way to repay you for what you've done."

"You could give us some supplies! And some money!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Sokka!" Katara scoffed, glaring at him.

"What? We need stuff." Sokka replied simply. I fought the urge to laugh.

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey." He bowed before walking off.

"I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out what to do all on your own." Katara complimented. Aang smiled.

"Actually, I did have a little help. And there's something else. I need to talk to Roku and I think I found a way to contact his spirit. There's a temple on a crescent shape island. If I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him." Aang finished.

"The solstice is tomorrow!" I cried.

"Yeah, and there's one more problem. The island is in the Fire Nation."


	7. Chapter 06: Avatar Roku

Tikaani's POV:

"Let's go, Appa, come on, boy!" Aang tugged on Appa's reins, but the Sky bison let out a roar of protest before sitting down. "Look, I'm sorry, but Katara, Sokka and Tikaani aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!"

"Go where, exactly?" I asked, walking out of the shadows. Aang jumped and whipped around. I smiled and walked out of the shadows, Katara and Sokka following me. "You can't go to the Fire Nation alone."

"The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation." Katara added. "And neither can I…"

"But I have to talk to avatar Roku to find out what my vision means. I need to get to the fire temple before the sun sets on the solstice. That's today!" Aang jumped onto Appa's head. Appa began to walk forward, but Katara and Sokka stepped in front of him. While Aang was distracted I climbed into the saddle.

"We're not letting you go into the Fire Nation, Aang!" Katara shouted.

"Unless we can come to." I chimed in. Aang whipped around to see me lounging in the saddle with my feet propped against the edge.

"We've got your back." Sokka continued. Momo flew over to Aang and the young airbender smiled. Appa licked Sokka. "Ewe!" He cried. Katara and I laughed and we made our way onto the saddle. A young man stopped us and handed us some supplies before wishing us luck on our journey.

"Yip, yip!" Aang called, flicking Appa's reins. The bison lifted into the air and we began our journey to the crescent shaped island.

Ryuu's POV:

"Is this the place?" Zuko asked, looking around at the smashed houses. The only building still a hundred percent in tact was the large building in the center of the tow, which appeared to be the town hall. This was most definitely the place.

"Yeah. He was here." I replied. I didn't know why Zuko was so obsessed with finding the avatar, but Iroh had just convinced him to start paying me! Sure, it was only a little, but it was better than what I have now- nothing. Prince Zuko leaped down from his komodo rhino and started prowling around the town. He looked around at the ruins. "And it looks like he got into a fight with someone while he was here." I observed.

"Hush!" Zuko snapped. He was looking toward the town hall. He slowly walked over and just as he did so, the door opened. A villager stepped out. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw the Fire Nation Prince standing there. "Having trouble sleeping?" Zuko asked. He shoved the guy to the ground. "Seen the avatar lately?"

"For a second I thought you were going to ask him how the whether was."

"Sailing into Fire Nation waters? Of all the foolish things you've done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!" Iroh chastised Zuko as we neared Fire Nation waters.

"Is the avatar so important that we need to take such a risk?" I asked.

"I have no choice, uncle!" Zuko completely ignored me.

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord _banished_ you?" Iroh snapped. He was angrier than I had ever seen him. "What if you are caught?"

"You won't be the only one in trouble!" I piped up. "He could have all of us punished for your stupidity!"

"I'm chasing the avatar! My father will understand why I am returning home!" He countered. Iroh shook his head slowly.

"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type."

"Yeah, from what Iroh's told me he sounds like a _really_ generous and fun guy." I muttered sarcastically. "He'll probably just let you right on in whenever you want without giving a care in the world…" Zuko responded to my sarcasm by sneering and peering into his telescope.

"The avatar!" He gasped. "Helmsman, full steam ahead!" Zuko ordered one of the guards on the lower deck to prepare the catapult. The floor of the deck slid backwards to reveal a catapult. He loaded set the ammunition on fire.

"Really, Prince Zuko? Couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" Iroh asked, fanning the smelly fumes away from him. I gagged.

"On my mark… Fire!" Zuko ordered. I cut the rope of the catapult and the fireball flew through the air.

Tikaani's POV:

"Its Zuko and company!" I cried. "Fireball!" I warned, just as a fireball zoomed past us. I covered my nose as the rancid smell hit me. "Sokka, what did you do?"

"That wasn't me!" Sokka protested.

"We have to get out of Zuko's range before he shoots another half stinker at us!" Katara called.

"Can't Appa go any faster?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, but there's just one little problem…" Aang stated.

"A blockade?" I asked. "Thanks a lot universe!"

"If we fly north we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade! It's the only way!" Aang stated.

"There's not enough time!" Katara replied. "There's only one way…"

"Then let's do this!" I shouted. "Let's run this blockade!"

Ryuu's POV:

"A blockade!" Zuko exclaimed.

"A what?" I pushed Zuko out of the way to peer through the telescope. A short while away there was a line of Fire Nation ships, all with catapults at the ready. That wasn't the worst part. "Oh monkey feathers, looks like Zhao's crawled back out of his hole." Atop one of the ships, the Fire Nation Commander Zhao was eying Zuko's ship wearily. He also eyed the bison.

"Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters, turn around now and they cannot arrest you!" Iroh advised.

"He's not turning around!" Zuko protested.

"Please, Prince Zuko, if the Fire Nation captures you, there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the avatar!" Iroh tried to coax Zuko, but I could tell that by the look on the prince's face that he was not giving in.

"I'm sorry, uncle. Run the blockade!" Zuko ordered.

"What the what?" I cried. "You're crazy!"

"If crazy is what it takes to capture the avatar," Zuko replied, "Then crazy is what I'll be."

"Yeah, but this is-" I was cut off by a loud explosion as a fireball struck the ship. An engineer raced onto the deck.

"Prince Zuko! The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!"

"Do not stop this ship!" Zuko snapped.

"If you can't beat'em, join'em." I shrugged. I loaded another fireball onto the catapult and shot it into the air, but one fireball at a time was not enough to make so much as an indent in the blockade.

"We're on a collision course!" Iroh cried.

"We can make it!" Zuko snapped.

"No we can't!" I argued, but just then, Zhao's ships stopped. We glided past without a single challenge. Zuko and I stared up at Zhao's challenging face. He was up to something; he was letting us pass for a reason. "He's up to something."

"I know…" Zuko grumbled.

Tikaani's POV:

"There it is!" Aang cried, after hours of smooth sailing. Er… I mean flying.

"The crescent-shaped island!" I exclaimed, pointing out at it. We landed Appa in a secluded place where no one would see us.

"You did it, buddy! Nice flying!" Aang exclaimed. Appa rolled over and let out a loud yawn.

"Aw, you must be tired!" Katara cooed.

"Nope, I'm good! Refreshed and ready to fight dome firebenders!" Sokka exclaimed as he stretched and began to jog in place. I kicked one of his feet out from under him as he did so.

"She was talking to Appa." I explained, rolling my eyes.

"Well…" He stood to his feet and tried to think of a cover story. "I was talking to Momo!" He pointed towards the lemur.

"Sure you were." I said flatly before we all headed towards the tower.

"I don't see any guards…" Sokka stated, looking around.

"The temple's probably been abandoned for a hundred years or so." I whispered. "And the sun's almost down."

"We better hurry!" Aang leaped up the stairs and into the temple. He looked around in wonder, as did I. The temple was well built and highly decorated, most of the walls having red and gold patterns on them.

"Wait!" Sokka called. "I think I heard something." We all turned around to come face to face with five fire sages. I gulped. They didn't look friendly. Of course I knew they weren't.

"We are the fire sages, guardians of the temple of the avatar." The oldest of them whispered in a gruff and angry voice.

"Great, I am the avatar!" Aang smiled.

"We know." The old sage sneered before blasting fire in our direction.

"I'll hold them off, run!" Aang yelled. Katara and Sokka booked it, but I wasn't going anywhere. "Tikaani, get out of here!" Aang ordered.

"No way am I letting you have all the fun!" I snapped. I waterbended some water out of my pouch and prepared myself in a fighting stance. Aang pushed the fire sages to the ground with a huge gust of air.

"We aren't going to fight them!" He stated. He pushed me down the hallway with his airbending, much to my protest.

"If we let him talk to Roku, there's no telling how powerful the boy will become!" The old sage snarled. "Split up and find him!" His voice echoed throughout the halls and now I had no choice but to run. Aang had spilt my water when he airbended me backwards, so now the only way for me to defend myself was for me to use my bare hands- or run. The halls were like a maze. I followed Aang as he darted around a corner, almost colliding with Sokka and Katara.

"Follow me!" Aang called.

"Do you know where you're going?" Sokka asked.

"Nope!" Aang called as he charged around another corner. "Wrong way!" The young monk cried, heading back the way he came. Katara and Sokka stared at him in confusion, but just then, a firebender raced around the corner.

"Run!" I yelled. All of us turned around and ran. Aang led us straight to a dead end. The firebender came around the corner. We were trapped.

"I don't want to fight you!" He said. "I am a friend."

"Firebenders aren't our friends!" Sokka snapped. Aang, Katara and Sokka all prepared themselves in a fighting stance. The man stepped forward and Aang tensed, but before he could attack, the man dropped to his knees and bowed to the young avatar.

"I know why you're here, avatar." He said.

"You do?" Aang dropped out of his fighting stance immediately.

"Yes. You wish to speak to avatar Roku. I will take you to him."

"How?" Aang interrogated. In reply, the sage moved one of the lanterns to reveal a hole in the wall. He placed his hand over the hole and blasted fire into it. A part of the wall slid away to reveal a secret passage.

"This way!" The sage stated. The others looked at him skeptically.

"Find him!" Another voice echoed. It was one of the other sages.

"Just go down the creepy passage!" I urged. I let the other three go first before I entered the tunnel. The friendly sage was last to file inside. He closed the door behind us and let out a sigh of relief.

"We're safe… for now... Follow me." The sage muttered.

Ryuu's POV:

"What's he up to, uncle?" Zuko wondered aloud as he clutched the railings of the lookout post. "Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?

"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you will lead him to the prize you're both after... The avatar" Iroh explained. I looked behind us to see that Zhao's ship was indeed on our tail. He was on the very edge of the horizon, but I could tell it was him.

"Iroh's right. We've got a tail." I told Prince Zuko, pointing to the ship that was following us. He sneered.

"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do." Zuko spat. I thought about his statement for a moment before realizing what his plan was. He was going to leave under the cover of his own trail of smoke. I was going to go with him, whether he likes it or not.

Tikaani's POV:

"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home. He formed these secret passages out of the magma." The sage explained.

"Did you know avatar Roku?" Aang asked. I rolled my eyes.

"What kind of question is that? This guy doesn't even look remotely close to 112 years old!" I exclaimed. Seriously, the other sages were like twice his age.

"My grandfather knew avatar Roku." The sage stated. "Many generations of fire sages guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place."

"Is that how you knew I was coming?" Aang wondered.

"A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred. The statue of avatar Roku, its eyes began to glow." I really wished that I had remembered this guy's name. It was starting to bother me. I tried to think… _Shyu! _I recalled. _That's his name._

"That's when we were at the air temple." Katara stated. "Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there too."

"At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world." Shyu said.

"If this is the avatar's temple, how come the other sages attacked me?" Aang questioned.

"Things have changed. In the past the sages were loyal only to the avatar. When Roku died, the sages eagerly awaited for the next avatar to return, but he never came." Shyu sighed.

"They were waiting for me."

"Hey, don't feel bad… You're only a-" Sokka's sentence was cut off by a yelp of pain as I slammed my heel into his foot. "Ow!"

"Deserved it!" I cheered.

"They lost hope the avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other sages were forced to follow him. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other sages." Shyu finished.

"Thank you for helping me." Aang thanked. Shy smiled.

"We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary. Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him." Shy explained. I sighed. This was taking to long. Finally we reached the top of the stairs, but the doors to the sanctuary were closed.

"Only a fully realized avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the sages must open it together with five simultaneous fire blasts." Shyu muttered. I looked over at Sokka, who seemed to have an idea.

"Five fire blasts, huh?" Sokka wondered. "I think I can help you out." He created five bags of fake firebending using lamp oil, gunpowder and animal skins. I had to admit that Sokka _could_ be smart _sometimes_. When the bombs went off, the loud explosion sounded, but the doors didn't budge.

"It didn't work…" Shyu sighed.

"But it looks like it did!" I exclaimed. They all stared at me like I was crazy, except for Katara, who seemed to get my point. "We can get the sages to open the doors!" Katara and I explained our plan to the others. We all agreed and hid.

"Come quickly, the avatar has entered the sanctuary!" Shyu exclaimed. The other sages rushed into the room.

"How did he get in?"

"I don't know, but look at the scorch marks and down there!" Shyu pointed towards the shadow moving at the base of the door.

"He's inside!" The sages stated. "Open the doors immediately! We can't let him speak to avatar Roku!" The sages gathered in a line and blasted fire at the door, causing it to creak open. "It's the avatar's lemur! He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!" One of the sages shouted. Momo leaped at him. Katara and Sokka leaped out from hiding and jumped two fire sages. They had appointed me to watching from above, in case anything went wrong. Shyu surprised another fire sage, but Aang hadn't shown up yet.

"Now Aang!" Shyu called out. Aang didn't show up. _Zuko._ I thought.

"Aang, now's your chance!" Katara cried. Two figures emerged from the shadows, Aang in their grasps. _Ryuu!_

Ryuu's POV:

"The avatar is coming with us!" Zuko concluded. I smiled as the battle before us turned around quickly. The loyal fire sages managed to gain the upper hand in the battle. "Close the doors, quickly!" Zuko ordered. I let go of the avatar and went to close the doors, but when I did so, I heard a shout behind me. I turned around to see the kid racing toward me and I hurled a fireball in his direction. He dodged it, bounced off my hand, and leaped through the doors before they closed.

"Monkey feathers, Zuko's not gonna be happy about that…" I muttered to myself. I looked around the room. The fire sages had wasted no time in chaining the avatar's friends to a pole, but something was wrong. One of the girls was missing. I took a couple steps backwards, examining the room. Suddenly, I had the urge to look up. There she was, hanging from the rafters. I shot fire at her and she tried to swing to another rafter, but she misjudged the jump. She came out a little short and tumbled to the ground. "Put her with the other two, and do it quickly!" I wasn't used to giving orders, but the fire sages actually listened. She struggled and fought and kicked, but they chained her down. I turned around to come face to face with Zuko.

"You let him through the doors?" He snarled.

"I tried to stop him!" I defended myself.

"Well you didn't try hard enough." He spat. "Move aside!" Zuko shoved me aside and cracked his knuckles before facing the door. The other four sages stood beside him and blasted the door, but nothing happened. "Why isn't it working? Its sealed shut!"

"It must have been the light." One of the other sages grumbled. "Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."

"Why did you help the avatar?" Zuko asked, turning toward the traitorous sage in anger.

"Because it was once the sage's duty. It is still our duty." Shyu explained. A slow clapping filled the room and I whipped around. Zhao was standing there, a group of soldiers gathered behind him.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him." Sideburns said sarcastically.

"Commander Zhao." One of the fire sages bowed to him. I worked some mucus out of my throat and spat on the ground at his feet.

"Prince Zuko, and his peasant…" Zhao glared at me in disgust. I snickered as he stepped closer to Zuko, clearly avoiding my saliva. "It was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work. Three traitors, in one day… The Fire Lord will be pleased." He snickered.

"Three?" I snarled. "I am no traitor!"

"But you're parents were, and that'll be good enough for the Fire Lord." Zhao smiled evilly.

"What?" My eyes widened. "What do you know about my parents? H-how do you know?" I stammered. I wanted- no, needed- to know what he knew. In reply, Zhao smiled and ignored me. He looked at the doors.

"You're too late, Zhao. The avatar's inside and the doors are sealed." Zuko butted in as if he had never heard me.

"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out." Zhao stated with a creeper look on his face. I clenched my fists and smoke started to rise from my hands.

"Tell me! Tell me how you know about my parents!" I ordered. "Tell me what you know about my parents!" Zhao snickered.

"Poor Ryuu…" Zhao scoffed mockingly. "You don't even know your own parents, or what became of them. It almost makes me feel sorry for you. Almost. Too bad almost isn't enough."

"Let me go right now and I'll show you to talk that way about me!" I shouted.

"You?" Zhao laughed. "I don't think so. Guards, he needs extra restraints."

"No! Get you're hands off me!" The guards had to wrestle me to one of the poles and chain me there before I gave up. They chained Zuko up next to me as well, but I didn't so much as look at him. I looked at the ground. My thoughts were whirling. _Who are my parents?_

Tikaani's POV:

"When those doors open, unleash all your firepower!" Zhao ordered.

"How's Aang going to make it out of this…" Katara wondered aloud.

"How are we going to make it out of this?" Sokka asked.

"Stop being so selfish, Sokka…" I muttered feebly. "I don't care what happens to us, but Aang has to be okay. He's the avatar. He just has to be okay." I sighed before looking at the ground. _I know Aang will be okay, but what about Ryuu? And what did Zhao mean when he said that our parents were traitors? _I thought back to my vision on Kyoshi. _Our mother was a firebender and our father was a waterbender. She helped him escape. She was a traitor. _Just then, the room was filled with light and the doors burst open.

"No, Aang!" Katara cried.

"Fire!" Zhao ordered. I looked up. Roku himself was standing there, firebending the blasts so that none of them hit him.

"Avatar Roku!" Shyu gasped. Roku blasted fire at us, melting our chains. I caught a glimpse of Ryuu and Zuko fleeing together.

"Ryuu!" I called out, but he didn't hear me.

"Avatar Roku is going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" Shyu exclaimed.

"Not without Aang!" Katara argued. The floor began to split. Magma rose in the temple and everything turned into a furnace. Katara, Sokka and I refused to flee. Avatar Roku soon faded and Aang fell to the ground. We rushed to help him.

"We've got your back!" Sokka stated.

"Thanks… Where's Shyu?" Aang asked.

"He fled with the other sages." I explained. "We gotta get out of here!" I grabbed Katara and Aang's arms and dragged them toward the hole in the wall. _Any time now, Appa…_ I thought. His loud roar split the air and I jumped. The others followed me and we landed on Appa's saddle. He then flew us away from the temple. I looked back and watched it fall.

"Are you alright, Tikaani?" Sokka asked. I nodded reluctantly.

"I was just… thinking…" I crossed my arms and laid my head down as we flew into the sunset. _I hope Ryuu's okay._


	8. Chapter 07: Pirate Problems

**Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy. The school year is almost over, which means I'll have to give my laptop back. the chapters are probably going to take longer to get out when school's over because I won't be able to sit with my laptop in front of the TV, like I usually do... **

Tikaani's POV:

"Would you sit down?" Sokka asked. "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off."

"I'm pretty sure that we can't hit a bump in midair, Sokka." I chastised. It was so fun to chastise Sokka. "But Sokka's right." I stopped to think about what I'd just said before I burst out laughing. "Good one, Tikaani!"

"What's so funny?" Sokka asked, narrowing his eyes. "I'm right sometimes!" I laughed even harder. "Shut up." Sokka grumbled.

"What's bugging you, anyway?" I asked Aang.

"Its what avatar Roku said. I have to master all four elements before that comet arrives." Aang worried.

"Well, let's see. You've pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer." Sokka stated sarcastically. I picked up his sleeping bag and chucked it at him. "Hey, I'm trying to fly here!" He complained. I laughed.

"I haven't even started water bending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole!" Aang exclaimed. "What am I going to do?"

"Oh, I have an idea!" I exclaimed. "Katara and I can teach you some water bending moves when we find a good source of water."

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka laughed.

"There!" I exclaimed, pointing. Sokka flew down and we landed in this nice pool with a waterfall and water everywhere.

"Wow, nice puddle." Sokka mused. Appa leaped into the water and started rolling around in it.

"Yeah! Don't start without me boy!" Aang exclaimed. He took off his shirt and pants and almost went into the water.

"Remember the reason we're here." Katara stated. Aang stopped.

"Oh, right. Time to practice waterbending." Aang stated, putting his clothes back on.

"Great… So… What am I supposed to do?" Sokka asked.

"You could… Clean the gunk out of Appa's toes!" Aang offered.

"So while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?" Sokka asked.

"Mud and bugs!" Aang exclaimed happily. Sokka blinked and looked at Aang for a couple seconds.

"Okay!" He agreed, and he set to work. Katara and I prepared ourselves for our lesson with Aang. We agreed to take turns teaching Aang how to waterbend.

"This is a pretty basic moves, but it still took me months to perfect, so don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away." Katara explained to Aang. She began to move her arms, pushing the waves in and out. "Just push and pull the water, like this. The key is getting the wrist movement right." I stood next to her and copied her motions. Together, we could make the wave grow pretty big and I tried not to look absolutely amazed. The little bit of water bending that I tried to do while I was in the show had only been minor. During this episode, there was a huge focus on waterbending.

"Hey, I'm bending it already!" Aang exclaimed. Katara looked slightly envious that it had come so easy to him.

"Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly…" Katara trailed off. "It took me months to learn that move."

"Well, you had to figure it out all on your own. I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher." Aang complimented. _Thank you, captain butt kiss._ I thought.

"Thanks." Katara thanked, flattered.

"My turn!" I shouted. "I can show you how to make ice." I bent a string of water out of the river and took a deep breath before breathing on it. The water instantly turned to ice. Aang tried the move and got it almost instantly. Katara tried the move, but it took her a little bit longer to get. She did manage to freeze half the water, but then she lost her concentration and dropped it. "Okay, Katara!" I stepped over to allow her to teach the next move. "Beat that, Katara!" I challenged. She glared at me angrily.

"Well I do know a pretty hard move, and I don't think you'll be able to handle it!" She stated to me. "The idea is to create a big, powerful wave." Katara tried to make a big wave, but she couldn't manage and it splashed back into the river.

"So… Like this?" Aang and I asked. The both of us created huge wave that crashed over Sokka and Appa. Sokka glared at us. "Looks like we got the hang of that move!" We both exclaimed. Katara's eyebrows looked exactly like Jet's. I almost said it out loud, but then I remembered that we hadn't met Jet yet. I vaguely wondered if his eyebrows were permanently stuck like that. "What else ya got?" Aang asked.

"That's enough practicing for today…" Katara seethed.

"Yeah, I'll say!" Sokka complained. "You just practiced our supplies down the river." He looked down the river as our supplies disappeared under the current.

"Uh… Sorry." Aang apologized. "I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff."

"My life was hard enough when you were just an airbender." Sokka moped.

Ryuu's POV:

Zuko blasted fire in my direction I swiped it away like a pesky fly and kicked some flames towards him. Zuko ducked and rolled out of the way. He was about to attack again, but just then, the ship moved.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Someone's changing our course!" Zuko stormed. He stomped away and I followed him to the steering room. He shoved the door open. "What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course!"

"Actually someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko." Iroh explained calmly.

"Is it something to do with the avatar?" Zuko asked.

"Nope. It has to do with your horrible sense of direction." I piped in, ducking just in time to avoid a fireball to the face. I snickered once the danger had passed.

"Even more urgent. It seems I… I've lost my lotus tile." Iroh stated.

"Lotus tile?" Zuko was lost, as was I.

"For my Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ." Iroh continued.

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Zuko's eye twitched.

"See, you, like most people, under estimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchant's at this port of call. Hopefully, they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life." Iroh finished. Zuko began to take deep breaths.

"Deep breaths, your royal hotheadedness, deep breaths…" I patted him gently on the back and he was too upset to notice my insult. He looked up at the ceiling and breathed out fire and a puff of smoke.

"I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew." Iroh smiled. I had to laugh at the Irohny- get it? _Iroh_ny? - Of that statement. I waved the smoke away and sat next to Iroh.

"So, this 'Pai Sho' game… How do you play?" I asked.

Tikaani's POV:

The marketplace was exactly as I had expected it to be. It was grungy, dirty and full of creepy weirdos. It also smelled a lot like saltwater and sweat. It was full of looters, muggers and criminal-looking people.

"We've got three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi left us. Let's spend it wisely." Sokka cautioned.

"Uh… Make that two copper pieces, Sokka. I couldn't say no to this whistle!"

"One copper piece!" I exclaimed. "Look at this necklace I bought!" I pulled my hair back to show them a red band with a Fire Nation insignia on it. Sokka's mouth dropped open.

"You bought a necklace with the FIRE NATION INSIGNIA on it?" He shouted at the top of his lungs. I snickered, knowing all too well how mad it would make him.

"It has pretty colors!" I pointed out. Sokka facepalmed.

"Stupid girls and their stupid jewelry!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh really?" Katara narrowed her eyes. "Then what is that around _your_ neck, Sokka?" She asked, pointing towards his neck.

"This is a warrior's whale-bone neckband!" He exclaimed. "It is not jewelry, it's an accessory. A warrior's accessory!" Sokka pointed out.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." I stated flatly. Sokka seethed.

"Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Nation. So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here!" The pirate shouted. "Don't be shy, come on by! Oh, you there!" He ran over to us. "I can see from your clothing that you're world traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

"Sure! What are curios?" Aang asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but we got'em!" The pirate exclaimed. I couldn't help but think that he sounded like a chicken. He smiled and led Aang onto the ship. We were walking around curiously.

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur." A gruff old voice rumbled. "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering."

"Momo's not for sale!" Aang said. The pirate's iguana parrot screeched at us and I shivered before walking over to look at the shelves. Lucky for me, Katara was still eying the strange monkey Buda-looking thing-a-ma-jigger. I took the waterbending scroll off the shelf.

"Aang, Katara, come look at this!" I exclaimed. They came over to the place where I had just removed the scroll. I opened it. "It's a waterbending scroll!"

"Check out those crazy moves!" Katara smiled.

"Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" Aang questioned curiously.

"Let's just say I got it up North at a most reasonable price. Free." The pirate captain stated. Katara watched sadly as he slid the scroll back onto the shelf.

"Wait a minute. Sea loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds? You guys are pirates!" Sokka concluded.

"We prefer to think of ourselves as 'high risk traders.'" One of the other pirates corrected, putting his arm around Sokka and winking. Sokka looked genuinely terrified.

"How much for the, uh… traded scroll?" Katara wondered.

"I've already got a buyer." The captain spat. "A nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless of course you kids have two hundred gold pieces on ya right now."

I looked over towards the spot where Aang and Katara were 'haggling' with the pirate. He was too busy dealing with them to notice when I slipped the waterbending scroll into my bag.

"How about one copper piece?" Aang asked in a fake pirate voice.

"Get out." The pirate sneered.

"Ay, we be casting off now!" Aang cheered. We left the ship. We were heading away from the pirate ship when one of the pirates called after us.

"Hey, you! Get back here!" He called. Immediately afterwards, a whole group of pirates leaped from the ship and started to close in on us.

"Run!" I exclaimed, grabbing Aang and Katara before running. Sokka charged after us, but the pirates were also on our tail. As I was running I waterbended some water onto the street and Katara froze it, causing the pirates to slip and fall.

"My cabbages!" The cabbage man cried as a group of pirates barreled into his cabbage kart. "This place is worse than Omashu!" We were running, and it looked like we were going to make it, but just then, three pirates jumped down from a roof and blocked our path. They chased us right to a dead end.

"I hope that lemur of yours has nine lives!" One pirate called. "Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?" He asked.

"No thanks!" Aang replied. He pushed them out of the way with airbending before preparing his glider. "Grab on tight!" Aang exclaimed. The three of us grabbed hold of his glider and he used one powerful gust of air to sweep us into the sky and away from the pirates. It was almost sun set when we returned back to camp.

"I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible!" Aang mused.

"No kidding…" Katara stated. I smiled smugly.

"Why else would I steal a waterbending scroll from them?" I asked as I took it out of my purse.

"No way…" Aang gasped.

"You could have gotten us killed!" Sokka accused.

"You stole the scroll!" Katara cheered excitedly. Sokka and Aang both looked at her; they were shocked that she wasn't angry with me. "Or should I call it high risk trading?" She remarked. I smirked.

"Good one Katara!" Aang chuckled. Sokka was staring at all of us angrily.

"They probably stole it, so I stole it back." I explained before he had a chance to ask. "Yeah, I put us in danger, but did it for Aang. I did it for the world!"

"Well now that we have it, we might as well learn from it." Aang stated.

Ryuu's POV:

"I've checked all the shops on this peer. Not a lotus tile in the entire market place." Iroh muttered disappointingly.

"It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!" Zuko shouted angrily, glaring at Iroh.

"Not really…" I piped up. "Look at all this cool stuff we got!" I cheered. A large group of soldiers walked passed, each carrying a heavy load of stuff. "The only thing better than finding something you were looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Iroh seemed to share my joy.

"You bought a Tsungi horn?" Zuko asked, his good eye twitching.

"For music night on the ship!" Iroh justified.

"Plus, I heard from a certain someone that you were a spirit on the Tsungi horn!" I pointed out. "You should here me on woodwinds!"

"This place looks promising!" Iroh convinced, pointing towards a large ship.

"Ooo, they've got curios!" I exclaimed as I was looking at the merchandise. I examined the different items they had.

"Ooo, this is hansom!" Iroh cried, looking at a jeweled stone monkey-like thing. "Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"

"I think it would, sir!" I agreed.

"We lost the water tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with."

"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" Zuko demanded.

"Really, Zuko? You can't just go around asking people if they have an arrow on their head." I criticized.

"Ready the river boat!" Zuko ordered. I did as he said and readied the boat. I steered it alongside the pirate ships.

"Shouldn't we be checking the woods?" I called up to him.

"They stole a waterbending scroll." Zuko reasoned. "So they'll be on the water." I nodded slowly.

"Right, right, I knew that!" I reassured. Zuko rolled his eyes and sneered.

Tikaani's POV:

I pretended to sleep, but soon Katara arose from her sleeping bag. She walked over to the scroll.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked. Katara turned around to look at me and sighed. "You're going to practice your waterbending without me?" Katara sighed again.

"Do you have to come?" Katara asked.

"If I don't come, then I can't make sure that the others don't find out about your secret training." I connived. Blackmail!

"Fine, you can come." Katara agreed. We both headed towards the river. As was expected, she had a lot of trouble with the water whip. I had a little trouble, but soon enough I managed to get it right. Katara started shouting. "Its not fair that it comes so easily to you while its still so difficult for me!"

"Sh!" I ordered. I heard a noise. It could only be Zuko's riverboat that just arrived. Katara peered through the bushes and gasped. I turned around to come face to face with a pirate. I turned around again to come face to face with the love of my- I mean Zuko.

"I'll save you from the pirates." He sneered.

"Okay…" I stared into his sparkling golden eyes.

"What?" Zuko looked genuinely creeped out right now.

"I mean… Ah, let me go!" I wasn't convincing anyone.

"Tikaani!" I looked over at Katara. She turned around, about to race from the bushes, but that was when Ryuu emerged. He grabbed her arms in the same way Zuko had grabbed mine.

Ryuu's POV:

"Hey pretty lady." I smirked. "Nice night for a swim… or some waterbending."

"Bind them!" Zuko ordered. I nodded and tied both of the water tribe girls to the tree. I was a pretty good knot-tier if I do say so myself. After they were tightly bound, Zuko glared at them. "Tell me where he is and I won't hurt any of you."

"Go jump in the river!" The pretty girl jeered.

"Try to understand. I need him to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost." Zuko took out the water tribe girl's necklace.

"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?" She demanded.

"We didn't steal it, if that's what you think." I defended. She glared at me.

"Stop ignoring me!" The other water tribe girl complained loudly. I flashed her an angry look, but just then her necklace caught my attention.

"What's this?" I looked at it. It was red with a golden Fire Nation insignia on it. "Why would a water tribe girl be wearing a necklace with the Fire Nation insignia on it?" I asked. "I think someone from the Fire Nation might appreciate it more, don't you?" I reached to untie the necklace, but the girl's teeth close around my fingers. "Youch!" I hollered. "She's BIT me!" I complained after pulling free.

"Enough of this garbage!" The pirates interrupted. "You promised a scroll!"

"I wonder how much money this is worth…" Zuko stated before lighting a fire under the scroll. The pirates froze and a couple shouted. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here." Zuko ordered.

"Fine!" The captain snapped before heading into the woods.

"Even though I hate you," I admitted, "I have to admit that you have a very strategic method of getting things done." I nodded slowly. That was the first time I had ever said anything nice to Zuko without being sarcastic.

"And even though I hate you, my uncle won't let me get rid of you." Zuko replied. _I guess that's as close to a compliment as I'll ever get out of him. _I thought to myself.

It was just after sunrise when the pirates returned with the avatar and that other ponytail kid. Although, I wasn't one to talk, Iroh made me where my hair in a bun. It was better than Zuko's ponytail, though.

"Nice work." Zuko said. He began to walk towards the pirates.

"Aang, this is all my fault." The pretty water tribe girl said.

"No, Katara, it isn't." Aang comforted.

"Yeah, it kind of is." Iroh disagreed.

"Give me the boy!" Zuko demanded.

"You give us the scroll." The captain argued.

"You're really going to hand over the avatar for a stupid peace of parchment?" The water tribe boy asked.

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko called.

"You're friend is the avatar?" The pirate wondered aloud.

"Sure is. And I bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll!" The boy continued.

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko snarled.

"'Peasant' is such a common insult. Why not slob or filth?" I suggested.

"Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the avatar. You guys would be set for life." He finished.

"Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid."

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me." Zuko promised. He shot fire at the pirates and all the other guards did so as well. _Might as well join the fun! _I thought, shooting fire at them as well.

Tikaani's POV:

The pirates and guards disappeared in a veil of smoke. I tried to struggle free, but the ropes were tied too tight. I sighed. Suddenly, I noticed the ropes loosening. I turned my head to see Momo chewing them.

"Thank you, Momo!" I cried, hugging the lemur.

"We owe you a bushel of apples!" Katara cried.

"Let's get to the pirate's ship!" I stated, pointing at the ship. Katara and I ran over to the ship and tried to push it into the water, but it wouldn't budge. "Let's wait for Sokka and Aang, they can help!" Soon after I said it, the two of them emerged from the smoke and rushed over to us.

"Katara, Tikaani, you're both okay!" Aang exclaimed.

"Help us push this boat back into the water!" I ordered. Sokka and Aang came over and tried to help us, but the ship didn't budge.

"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship!" Sokka exclaimed.

"A team of rhinos… or two waterbenders." Aang stated, looking at Katara.

"Guys, I'm right here!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, three waterbenders." Aang corrected sheepishly. All of us used the wave move to carry the ship back into the river.

Ryuu's POV:

"Are you so busy fighting you can not see your own ship has set sail?" Iroh asked as he pushed Zuko and the captain apart. Zuko was enraged.

"We have no time for your proverbs, uncle!" Zuko complained.

"It isn't a proverb, those kids just stole the pirates' ship." I butted in.

"Bleeding hog monkeys!" The captain exclaimed. Zuko laughed out loud. He literally laughed out loud! He rarely smiled and I had never heard him laugh before. This was by far the strangest trip we have ever been on.

"Hey! That's my boat!" Zuko cried as a bunch of pirates sailed away on his riverboat.

"Maybe it should be a proverb." Iroh and I said at the same time.

"Come on uncle and peasant!" Zuko called. I sighed.

"Yes sire!" I said in a high-pitched, prissy-sounding voice before following. By the time we reached them, it was too late. Zuko's ship had toppled over the edge of the waterfall and the kids got away on their flying bison.

"My boat!" Zuko whined.

"My boat!" I mocked. Zuko turned around and walked towards me slowly. I hid behind Iroh, which didn't really work because I was taller than him.

"You're really going to get a kick out of this," Iroh chuckled, "The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"

"Oh my spirits, you should check if his honor is in there too!" I exclaimed. Zuko breathed in and out slowly before swiping the lotus tile out of Iroh's hand and hurling it off the cliffside.


	9. Chapter 08: A Shade of Red

**Yay! Finally reached the chapter with Jet! **

**My sister has had a crush on this dude since his first appearance in the show, so...**

**I added a character for her! Say hello to Red, the bad-a** b*tch of the Freedom Fighters! She wears a wolf bat cloak that she can use to glide and she has a pair of blades on her arms that can flip out like swords! She's an OC that my sister created and I just want to say that she is pretty much the coolest person in this story, aside from Ryuu. (If he wasn't my own character, I'd have a fangirl crush on him!)**

**I have a fangirl crush on EVERYONE! **

**And by everyone, I mean Zuko, Sokka, and Longshot! :)**

Tikaani's POV:

"These are Fire Nation traps. You can tell from the metalwork." Sokka explained. We had just freed Momo and the wild hog monkeys from the circular traps they had been trapped in. "We better pack up camp and get moving." Sokka stated. I sighed and looked around at the trees. Their leaves were bright orange. I had to envy Jet. They were beautiful trees to live in. "Uh-uh, no flying this time!" Sokka protested as we began to climb Appa.

"What? Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang asked.

"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. Its because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable!"

"We're all too noticeable!" I added.

"What? We're not too noticeable!" Katara argued.

"We're three water tribe people who travel with a monk and fly around on a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head!" I hollered. "You can't get much more noticeable than that." Appa roared with indignation.

"Tikaani's just jealous because she doesn't have an arrow." Aang told Appa.

"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk." Sokka reasoned.

"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader!" Sokka corrected. I laughed. "What's so funny?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The fact that _you_ think you can be a leader." I chuckled. "I wouldn't follow you if we were _playing_ follow the leader. Besides, you're voice still cracks."

"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader!" Sokka argued, making his voice a bit deeper.

"What about me?" I asked, glaring at Sokka. "I'm a warrior and we're the same age!" I narrowed my eyes. "Unless you _still_ think that women can't fight."

"I never said that!" Sokka argued. "I just meant…"

"I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl!" Katara snapped.

"I've kissed a girl! You just haven't met her!" Sokka argued.

"Katara's met Suki, and for the record, she kissed you, not the other way around." I stated.

"Suki kissed _you_? Of all people?" Katara was astonished.

"Shut up and follow me, or I'll tell gran-gran something super… SECRET… and BAD about you!" Sokka shouted. Katara and I laughed before following Sokka, just to humor him.

"Walking stinks!" Aang complained. "How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?"

"Oh, I don't know Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts?" Katara suggested. "They seem to know everything!

"Ha, ha, very funny…" Sokka seethed.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack." Aang complained.

"Maybe you should ask Sokka's instincts to carry it." I snickered.

"That's a great idea!" He cheered. "Hey, Sokka's instincts, would you mind-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Look guys, I'm tired too, but the important thing is that we're safe from the… Fire Nation…" Sokka trailed off as we walked straight into a Fire Nation camp. Fire Nation soldiers all stared at us while they were holding sharp and pointy weapons. "Run!" We dropped our packs, ready to run, but just then a firebender blasted the bushes behind us. "We're cut off!"

"Really, Sherlock, I didn't notice!" I grumbled sarcastically. "Oh, BTW Sokka, your shirt is on fire." I stated before blasting him with a ray of water. "Oops, I guess I over did it." I laughed. Aang and Katara looked at me like I was crazy.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?" Aang asked. I rolled my eyes. _We're gonna be saved in three, two, one…_ Suddenly, one of the guards fell over for no reason at all. "Whoa, how did you do that, Tikaani?" Aang asked.

"Look!" Katara cried.

"Its Robin hood!" I exclaimed. "Robin hood music, cue now!" A tall boy with shaggy brown hair, ragtag armor, a pair of hook swords and a weed in his mouth, dropped down into the clearing. He smiled and whipped out a couple guards with his hooked swords.

"Down ya go!" He snickered. Aang, Katara, and Sokka stared in astonishment.

"They're in the trees!" One guard cried. A little boy with a helmet dropped onto the guard's head and a girl in a wolf bat cloak glided down, knocking out two more guards.. I tilted my head quizzically. _Who is that?_ S_he's not supposed to be here._ I'm pretty sure I would have recognized a member of the freedom fighters in a wolf bat cloak.

"The wolf bats are gonna eat well tonight." She snickered. Arrows came from another tree and I looked up to see Longshot firing down at us. Katara and Aang began helping with their water and airbending. Sokka charged at a guard with his boomerang at the ready. Before he could do anything, Jet kicked the guy out of the way.

"Hey, he was mine!" Sokka protested.

"Gotta be quicker next time!" Jet smiled. I watched as Pipsqueak leaped down and broke the swords of two guards, causing them to flee. I saw Jet heading towards a guard to my right so I soaked the guard's head and froze it with my water bending, causing him to fall over.

"Hey!" Jet said.

"Gotta be quicker next time!" I chuckled. Jet knocked out a couple more guards before he walked up to Katara.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hi…" Katara smiled. The two of them looked at what was left of the camp. Some guards had fled, but others were still unconscious. Jet's freedom fighters were making their way into the clearing.

"You just took out a whole army almost single handedly!" Aang mused.

"Army? Pft! It was only like… twenty guys…" Sokka argued.

"My name is Jet and these are my freedom fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, Pipsqueak, and Red." As Jet listed them off, I looked to each one in turn. All of them were familiar, except for the one in the wolf bat cloak. This 'Red' character didn't belong in the Avatarverse. The wolf bat cloak made it hard to see her face.

"Pipsqueak, that's a funny name!" Aang said as he walked up to The Duke.

"You think my name is funny?" Pipsqueak asked, narrowing his eyes at Aang.

"It's hilarious!" Aang confessed. Pipsqueak glared at him before he started laughing.

"Um… Thanks for saving us, Jet. We're lucky you were there." Katara flirted.

"I should be thanking you. We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning. We just needed the right distraction. And then you guys stumbled in." Jet smiled at Katara.

"We were relying on instincts." Katara grumbled.

"You'll get yourselves killed doing that." Jet informed.

"Hey Jet, these barrels are filled with blasting jelly!" The Duke exclaimed.

"And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!" Red mused. I started. Her voice was familiar, but it couldn't be... Could it?

"Great! Let's not get those mixed up." Jet reasoned.

"We'll take this stuff back to the hideout!" The Duke called. I watched Red leave with the other Freedom Fighters.

"You guys have a hideout?" Aang asked.

"You want to see it?" Jet asked.

"Yes, we wanna see it!" Katara cheered, getting close to Jet. He led us to a spot deep in the forest, but I didn't see any hideout. Of course I already knew where it was. It was above us, hidden by the leaves.

"We're here." Jet said.

"Where? There's nothing here!" Sokka said skeptically.

"Hold this." Jet smirked, handing Sokka a rope.

"Why, what's this do?" Sokka asked, taking the rope skeptically. Immediately afterward the rope yanked him upwards. I watched as he disappeared. I laughed. Aang glided up on his glider and I watched in amazement as the wolf bat girl ran up the tree trunk like a tree ninja. Jet watched, but he didn't look very impressed. I grabbed hold of one of the ropes and gaped at the amazingness of the tree fortress. It was like a city of tree houses as far as the eye could see without a tree being in the way.

"What… the… F**K!?" A voice sounded from a tree a little whiles away. I looked to my left to see the wolf bat girl watching Jet and Katara. She was seething mad, almost to the boiling point. _That voice... It has to be..._

"Shyanne?" My I called out, knowing that it had to be her... Only my RWBFFAT (Real World Best Friend For All Time) would be bold enough to use words like that in a kid's show. This had to be Shyanne! Plus no one in the real Avatarverse would know words like that.

"Oh sh**, I've been caught!" Shyanne exclaimed. She spread her wings, about to fly off, but I stopped her before she could.

"Shyanne, its me!" I called. I looked around and lowered my voice. "Kandace."

"Kandace?" Shyanne's eyes widened and she studied me. "I suppose I should call you 'Tikaani' here then, am I right?"

"And I suppose I should call you 'Red.'" I said in turn. We were both avatar fans, so we had already come up with fake names for ourselves that would fit into the Avatarverse. Shyanne had always wanted to be a Freedom Fighter.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go join Jet." Red said. I nodded and we went to go find Jet (Red has forever had a fangirl crush on him, for reasons I do not know). He was just telling Katara about what he had been doing to mess with the Fire Nation. Red literally jumped in, but I just followed.

"They took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back." Jet stated.

"We've been ambushing their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with'em." Pipsqueak smiled smugly.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation of out here for good and free that town." Jet enthused.

"That's so brave!" Katara complimented. I looked at Red, who moved her hand and mouth to mock Katara's words. I giggled.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house!" Sokka mumbled.

"Don't pay any attention to my brother…" Katara muttered.

"No problem. He probably had a rough day." Jet commented.

"So you all live here?" Katara questioned.

"That's right." Jet nodded. "Longshot over there, his town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found The Duke and Red trying to steal our food. I don't think they ever really had a home."

"What about you?" Katara asked. Jet stopped, but the rest of the freedom fighters kept walking. I almost followed them, but Red grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a tree. We peeked out and watched them.

"Why are we-"

"Sh!" Shyanne cut me off.

"The Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever…" Jet trailed off.

"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation…" Katara confided.

"I'm so sorry, Katara…" Jet sympathized as he looked at her. Katara looked at Jet. Slowly they moved closer to one another. I looked over at Red. _This must be the part when they kiss offscreen!_ I thought. _Poor Red!_ She slowly made the ears on her wolf bat cloak droop downwards. I looked back at the scene. Jet still had his weed in his mouth. The edge of it tickled Katara's nose and she sneezed on his face.

"Ew!" Jet leaped backwards and wiped the spit off his face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Katara exclaimed.

"No, it's alright." Jet said, removing the weed from his mouth. I looked at Red. She was trying to contain her laughter. I looked back at the scene with Katara and Jet. They still hadn't moved from the bridge. They were looking around as if trying to think of something to say.

"This place… It's so beautiful." Katara whispered.

"Not as beautiful as you." Jet smiled. Katara blushed and the two of them moved closer. This time, the weed was in his hand. Nothing could mess up this moment. Nothing, that is, except for Red.

"Hey Jet!" Red called, racing around the corner as if she hadn't been there the whole time. "Its time for dinner, I need your help in the kitchen!"

"But I can't cook." Jet protested, looking bewildered.

"I don't care, get your butt to the kitchen if you want any food!" Red hollered.

"Okay, I'm coming." Jet looked at Katara. "Katara, I'm-"

"NOW! Don't make me get Pipsqueak!" Red commanded. Jet didn't have a chance to say anything else on the matter. He sighed and headed off in the opposite direction. Katara sighed and looked at the ground, obviously disappointed. Red walked back around the corner. "And that is how you save your true love from getting kissed by another woman!" Red explained. "I gotta get to the kitchen now, or Jet will know something's up." I watched as Red glided away. Finally, I couldn't handle it anymore. I laughed so hard that my sides hurt. Katara walked around the corner and narrowed her eyes at me.

"You were spying on me?" She inquired angrily. "I can't believe you would do something like that!" Katara spat before stomping off. _She'll cool down soon enough._

"Today we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine!" Jet announced, lifting his glass of lychee juice. He was greeted with happy cries from the Freedom Fighters. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldiers face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey." The Duke took his praise by jumping onto the table and lifting his arms. Cheers of approval greeted him. "Now the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right," Jet paused, letting the crowd boo, "Or maybe, they're dead wrong!" He declared, a serious expression crossing his face. Everyone cheered loudly. Jet smiled and took a seat between Sokka and Katara. Red sat next to Aang and I sat next to Red, who was still wearing her wolf bat cloak.

"Hey, Jet! Nice speech…" Katara smiled.

"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you, Aang and Tikaani. That was some great bending I saw out there today." Jet complimented. Red sneered.

"Well… He's great. He's the avatar." Katara said modestly. "I could use some more training." She blushed. Red stuck out her tongue, but her cloak made it hard for anyone else to tell. Except for me. I knew everything she was thinking. We wouldn't be RWBFFATs if I didn't.

"Avatar, huh? Very nice…" Jet trailed off. Jet almost began talking again, but I knew from the moment he opened his mouth that Red was going to interrupt him.

"Sokka!" She called loudly across the table, cutting Jet off. "You haven't touched your meat pockets! Do you know how long it takes me to make those?"

"You made these?" Sokka asked, pointing at the odd pockets that looked- and tasted- like Totino's Pizza Rolls. He poked one of them. "Are you sure it has meat?" He asked.

"They're called _meat_ pockets." Red rolled her eyes. "I stuff meat in between two slabs of animal skin." Sokka looked at the pockets cautiously before taking a small bite of one. His eyes widened.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever tasted!" He exclaimed, his pupils dilating and sparkling.

"Is there any vegetarian food here?" Aang asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course! Something for everyone!" I watched as Red scooped a large pile of creamed corn onto Aang's plate. The young airbender dug in. His eyes lit up.

"Are you sure this is corn?" He asked, continuing to eat it. "Its delicious!"

"My compliments to you, Red. You are a wonderful cook!" I added as I tried the meat pockets and creamed corn. They were so delicious. I never knew Red was such a good cooker.

"I think there's a way that you guys can help in our struggle." Jet tried to speak over us. Everyone quieted as he spoke.

"Unfortunately we have to leave tonight." Sokka snapped. I nodded.

"Yeah, we gotta go to the North Pole." I added.

"Sokka, Tikaani, you're kidding me! I needed you on an important mission tomorrow!" Jet called after us. Sokka stopped, but I kept walking.

"Stick your stupid mission!" I grunted. Sokka looked after me, but I knew he would never be able to turn down a mission. He looked back at Jet.

"What mission?" Sokka asked. I sighed. _Why does he have to say yes every time he hears the word 'mission?'_

"Tikaani, wait up!" I stopped and turned around to see Red. "I need your advice!" She sighed and looked at me. "How can I get Jet to notice me?"

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to know?"

"I've seen the way Sokka looks at you!" Red exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" I was very puzzled. Sure, Sokka had a crush on me in the beginning, but he wasn't _still_ interested in me, was he?

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed!" She shouted.

"Well at the beginning he had a small crush on me… But I thought that would go away after he met Suki." I confessed. "He… He's been staring at me?"

"Really, girl?" This time, Red was the one who raised an eyebrow. "It's so obvious that I almost died!"

"Well… I've been nothing but rude towards him since we started our journey. I don't know why he'd like me." I really thought I'd snuffed out his infatuation with me. I didn't want to be any more rude than I already was. "He probably thinks I'm teasing him, which would make him think that I like him." I reasoned.

"Well, being rude to Jet won't work like that with me…" Red sighed. "I've never tried so hard to impress a guy… But no matter how hard I try, he just doesn't seem to notice me…" I didn't say anything for a long time, mainly because I noticed that Red had started to cry, but also because I was thinking. Suddenly, an idea struck me. I didn't voice it until she had forced herself to stop crying.

"You should try taking off that… _thing_!" I exclaimed, motioning to her cloak.

"You mean my wolf bat cloak? But what if Walnut doesn't recognize me?"

"Who?" I had a strange feeling that I knew who Walnut was.

"My pet wolf bat." Red explained. "But I call him Walt since he doesn't like the name Walnut." She nodded for a few seconds. "So why do you want me to take off my cloak?" Red asked curiously.

"Maybe Jet needs to see what you look like outside of the cloak. If I didn't know it was you in there, I might not know that you're a girl." I explained.

"Well, Jet does tend to treat me like one of his bro friends…" Red concluded.

"Tell me how it goes!" I requested before walking to the guest tree house I was sharing with the others. "Night!" I cried before falling to sleep.

The next day I paid little attention to what was going on with the others. I spent most of my time chatting it up with Red. I talked about Ryuu and our parents. Red told me that The Duke was her little brother. At one point in the morning I walked into the guest tree house to see Sokka angrily packing his things. Soon afterwards, Katara charged in.

"We can't leave now, with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" She yelled in rage.

"Don't you mean we can't leave now, without your _boyfriend_?" I chastised.

"What? He's not my-" Katara tried to protest, her cheeks were bright red.

"Katara and Jet, sitting in a treehouse, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I taunted.

"Shut up!"

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a tree-carriage!" I finished. Katara slowly walked towards me with her hands out, as if she was trying to strangle me. I leaped out the window and grabbed hold of one of the ropes. I zipped passed the branches. The rope line ended up leading me straight to Red's tree house. She had just walked out and she wasn't wearing her wolf bat cloak.

"Tikaani?" She laughed at me. "Nice of you to swing by!" She laughed at her own pun, and I did too. I looked at her. She had shaggy reddish brown hair that went over her left eye, reddish brown eyes and she was wearing ragtag armor like many of the other Freedom Fighters. She still had a thin bat-like membrane between her arms, so she could still glide. I also noticed something different. There were blades attached to her arms.

"What are _those_?" I wondered.

"These are my arm blades." Red snickered. She flicked her arms and the blades slid forward so they looked like she could use them just like swords. Then she withdrew them.. "I was just on my way to see Jet." She smiled. "Care to watch me woo him?"

"Yes I wood like to watch you. Get it? I said 'wood' instead of 'would', and we're in a forest?" I gave her a thumbs up.

"It doesn't work if you have to explain it." She criticized. I pouted. "This way!" She grabbed a rope and swung away. She sent the rope back to me and I used it to glide over to Jet's treehouse. Red walked up to the door and knocked. Soon, Jet answered.

"Hey, I-" Jet froze when he saw Red. He stared at her and blinked a couple times as if he was completely unable to speak. "Who are you?" Jet asked in a mesmerized voice.

"Jet, its me. Red." She informed. Jet's mouth opened and closed a couple times, as if he was trying to fathom it.

"I… I've never seen you without your cloak before…" He stammered.

"Well, how does it look?" Red pressed.

"You should… Dress like this more often…" He seemed dumbstruck. He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry, but I have to go… I'll talk to ya later, Red." Jet whispered, almost looking sad to leave her. He began to walk off.

"He's going to go plant the blasting jelly, isn't he?" Red sighed.

"I'm afraid so…" I shook my head. "So what are we going to do?"

"You're going to mix water with the blasting jelly so it won't blow. If you fail, Sokka will still be there to warn the villagers." She theorized. "And I still want to try to convince Jet not to blow the dam. If he can make that step on his own, he'll be different when he decides to go to Ba Sing Se."

"I'm going to mix water with the blasting jelly now. You can go hide behind a tree until you think it's the right time to convince Jet to stop." Red nodded and I headed towards the river. I knew that Jet wouldn't plant the blasting jelly until late afternoon the next day, so I crawled into a comfortable position among the rocks and fell asleep. I was awakened by loud footsteps and I peered out just in time to see Sneers and the other freedom fighters- minus Smellerbee and Pipsqueak- walking away. As soon as they were out of sight I tiptoed over to the barrels and created a wave of water that washed over them. The water mixed with the blasting jelly.

I was about to walk away, but suddenly, I felt like someone was watching me. I looked up at a tree that was at the top edge of the canyon. Longshot was glaring at me from the top of the tree. I shook and gulped slightly, but Longshot didn't make any move to try to stop me. It was hard to tell from the distance, but I thought I saw him give me a curt nod, as if he agreed with what I was doing. I returned the nod before I continued to walk away, talking to myself as I went.

"That should to it. And if the dam still blows, then Sokka would have warned the town by now." I said to myself before walking out of the gorge. I made my way to where Jet was, just in time to see him beat Aang. Katara was just about to start waterbending at him.

"Stop it, Jet!" Red ordered. She stepped out from behind a tree. "How could you? How could you even think about doing something like this?"

"Red?" Jet looked at her, surprised. "I knew you wouldn't understand! I need to free this valley from the Fire Nation!"

"Who would be free?" Red asked. "Everyone would be dead." She looked into Jet's eyes, but they were cold. Suddenly, I heard a whistle from the other side of the river. Jet was opening his mouth to reply. "If you do this, you're no better than the Fire Nation people who killed your parents!" Red accused. Jet froze. He stared at Red in horror and I could tell that he realized that Red was right. Jet whistled.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, worry clouding her eyes.

"Telling them that the plan is off." Jet whispered. Katara and Aang looked out towards the river, but nothing happened. Sokka came over the hill on Appa.

"I did it, I saved the village!" He boasted. "Wait, why hasn't the dam blown up yet?" He asked.

"Red convinced Jet not to blow up the dam. She saved everyone!" Katara cheered. She looked at Sokka. "It was a good effort, though."

"What? But I… Oh never mind..." He grumbled. "I should just be happy that everyone is safe. Now get on Appa, before he changes his mind again!" All of us were happy to oblige.

"Make sure he doesn't get into anymore trouble!" I told Red. I lowered my voice before I continued. "See you in Ba Sing Se." I winked. Red smiled.

"See you in Ba Sing Se." And with that, Sokka 'yip, yipped' and we were off. We were high in the sky when I got an idea. I stood on Appa's saddle and yelled.

"Hey, Jet! RED HAS A CRUSH ON YOU!" I shouted it at the top of my lungs before sitting down on Appa's saddle, smiling evilly.

Red's POV:

My face was bright Red. Get it? Because my name is... Oh, never mind...

"What did she say?" Jet inquired.

"You didn't hear her?" I asked, hoping that he hadn't. He shook his head.

"Too far away." Jet looked curious. "Was it important?"

"Not at all." I finished, letting out a sigh of relief. _Nice try Tikaani, but I'm not ready to tell him yet..._

_In Ba Sing Se, maybe..._

_In Ba Sing Se..._


	10. Chapter 09: Stormy Stories at Sea

**I have an announcement to make. I am going to fine-tune some of my previous chapters. I'll be editing out mistakes and adding some more stuff. I already finished fine-tuning chapter one, and you might want to take a look at that one because I made some major changes with Tikaani's part of the story. Some things regarding the fact that she was a completely competent waterbender when she had zero experience, so I made things harder for her so that she's not perfect and stuff. That's all for now.**

Tikaani's POV:

"Look at those clear skies, buddy!" Aang mused. "Should be some smooth flying!"

"No more walking?" I gasped. We had just left the Great Divide behind and I was sick of walking. If I had to walk one more step my legs might turn into paper.

"Not so fast." Katara said. "We need to stop at a market. We're out of food."

"I told you not to give all of our food to those giant spiders, but does anyone _ever _listen to Tikaani?" I questioned. "No!"

"Guys, wait, this was in my dream!" Sokka exclaimed. "We shouldn't go to the marketplace!" Aang and Katara looked at him curiously. "Food eats people!"

"You're idiot." I stated simply.

"Also, Momo could talk! You said some very unkind things!" Sokka grumbled, glaring at Momo. The lemur's ears flattened and he looked guilty.

Ryuu's POV:

"There is a storm coming. A big one!" Iroh muttered as he took a deep breath in through his nose.

"You're out of your mind, uncle!" Zuko snapped. "The weather's perfect, there's not a cloud in sight!"

"I think we should trust your uncle's nose." I concluded, even though no one was listening.

"The storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest." Iroh suggested.

"We know the avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same." Zuko sneered. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew!" Iroh urged.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" Zuko snapped.

"Excuse me?" I judged. Zuko turned around to look in my direction. He slowly walked over towards me, trying to look intimidating. It didn't really work, considering that we were the same height. I wasn't scared of Zuko.

"Finding the avatar is far more important than any individual's safety." He sneered before heading towards his quarters, slamming the door behind him. I stared after him, my eyes narrowed.

"He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up." Iroh convinced. I didn't buy it.

Tikaani's POV:

"Out of food and out of money! Now what are we supposed to do?"

"You could get a job, brick head!" I chastised. Sokka narrowed his eyes at me.

"We shouldn't go out there! Please, the fish can wait!" I turned around to see the two fishers arguing. _The next episode is the Blue Spirit!_ I realized. "There's going to be a terrible storm!" The old woman cautioned.

"Gah, you're crazy, it's a nice day!" The old man grumbled. "No clouds, no wind, no nothing, so quit your nagging, woman!"

"Maybe we should find some shelter?" Aang suggested. I could tell he was nervous because of the bad dream he had last night.

"Are you kidding?" Sokka criticized. "Shelter from what?"

"My joints say there's going to be a storm! A bad one!" The woman argued.

"Well it's your joints against my brain!" He reasoned.

"Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, cause I ain't coming!" The woman spat.

"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get!" The old man concluded.

"I'll go!" Sokka volunteered.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I hollered. The others looked at me oddly. "What? I want a job too! And may the odds be ever in my favor!" I said in Effie Trinket's voice.

"You're both hired!" The old man said. We began to load the ship and soon, storm clouds started rolling in.

"Sokka, Tikaani… Maybe this isn't such a good idea." Aang advised. "Look at the sky." I looked up at the clouds and shrugged.

"So? It's just a little rain? What's the worst that could happen?" I asked, knowing all too well that Sokka and I would be sick and hallucinating in the next episode. I knew that the next episode was one of my favorites. It was The Blue Spirit. I needed to be sick when the episode started, though. If I wasn't sick in the next episode, I might be tempted to go watch Zuko. That could put the entire episode in jeopardy. I had to be sick… And I had to suck on a frozen frog, whether I liked it or not. I actually kind of want to try one… I have a natural curiosity.

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense!" The woman jeered at her husband. "You should listen to him!"

"Boy with tattoos?" The old fisherman mused. He turned around to look at Aang. "Airbender tattoos. Well I'll be a hog monkey's uncle. You're the avatar, ain't ya?" The old man asked.

"That's right!" Katara chimed. Her and Aang smiled.

"Well don't be all smiley about it! The avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world!" He yelled.

"Don't yell at him!" Katara nagged. "Aang would never turn his back on anyone!"

"Oh, he wouldn't, eh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering." The old fisherman muttered sarcastically.

"Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?" Katara asked. Unbeknownst to her, Aang was slowly backing away. "Aang what's wrong?" She asked when she noticed. Aang opened his glider and flew away.

"That's right, keep flying!" The old man hollered.

"You're a horrible old man!" Katara insulted.

"Hey! They left without saying goodbye!" I shouted.

"You're friends ain't too polite, are they?" The old man asked. Sokka joined us on the deck.

"I know! This one time I was-" Sokka began, only to be interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah… Get below deck!" He ordered. Sokka did so without hesitation.

Ryuu's POV:

"Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all." I grumbled as Zuko walked onto the deck. Thick gray storm clouds lumbered ominously on the horizon. I could here the thunder rumbling even from such a distance. This was a big storm, I could tell.

"Lucky guess…" Iroh shrugged, trying to break the tension in the air. Just then, Zuko glared at me.

"Peasant!" He shouted, stomping over to me. "You better learn some respect or I'll teach it to you." He threatened. Zuko began to walk off, but I wasn't going to let him walk away that easily.

"What do you know about respect?" I sneered. Zuko froze, but he didn't turn to look at me. "The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle shows you know nothing about respect!" I could see Iroh wincing behind me, but I paid him no mind. "Besides… I only give respect to those who deserve it. The way you've been acting ever since I boarded this ship just proves that you don't deserve my respect. You don't deserve the respect of anyone else on this crew and you don't deserve the respect that your uncle gives you! What would you care, though? You only care about yourself! What else would I expect from a spoiled prince?"

Zuko's eyes narrowed and he whipped around to face me. I narrowed my eyes as well. Both of us got into a fighting stance and headed each other off. Both of our hands started smoking as they heated up. I was prepared to give Prince Hothead a matching scar on the opposite side of his face.

"Enough!" Iroh exclaimed as he stepped between us. I stepped down immediately, but Zuko continued to give me dirty looks. "We're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure that after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better." Iroh winked at me when he said noodles. He knew how much I enjoyed food. I turned and walked away, but I could still hear Zuko's voice.

"I don't need your help keeping order on my ship!" Zuko snapped. Iroh tried to calm his nephew down by placing his hand on the young prince's shoulder, but he gave his uncle the cold shoulder. Get it, cause… Oh, never mind… _Who does Zuko think he is? _I grumbled to myself as I made my way to the mess hall. The room was surprisingly empty. I sat down at the table in the corner where I usually sat. I looked around to make sure no one was listening before I started talking to myself.

"I'm sick of taking his orders and I'm tired of chasing his avatar!" I seethed. "I mean, who does Zuko think he is?" I slammed my fist down on the table and took a swig of jasmine tea.

"Do you really want to know?" Iroh's voice startled me. I spit my jasmine tea clear across the table.

"General Iroh!" I stuttered. Whipping at the tea with my sleeves and trying not to look stupid. My efforts were futile as I made myself look even more stupid. "I was just-"

"It's okay." Iroh assured. "May I join you?"

"Of course, sir!" I nodded vigorously, tea still dripping from my face. Iroh walked over and sat down across from me.

"Try to understand… My nephew is a complicated young man." Iroh started. I nodded. "He has been through much. When Zuko was thirteen, he wanted to attend a war meeting. I told him it was not a good idea, but he pressed for it. I let him into the war meeting. When we were in there, Zuko heard a dreadful plan from one of the generals. His plan was to use a battalion of new recruits as bait while the experienced soldiers launched a sneak attack from the rear. Zuko spoke out against the plan. He thought it wrong to betray them in such a way. Zuko was right, you see, but it was not his place to speak out and there were dire consequences. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the general was an act of complete disrespect and there was only one way to resolve this." Iroh looked away sadly.

"An Agni Kai?" My eyes widened. "He didn't order a thirteen-year-old kid to fight an Agni Kai…" I was horrified.

"He did. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the general. Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own father."

"What?" My eyes widened. "He… He had to fight the Fire Lord?" Iroh nodded.

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy. He refused to fight his father. Ozai did not hesitate. He decided to teach Prince Zuko a lesson that day… I looked away…" Iroh closed his eyes to finish his tale. That was when I realized that Zuko hadn't obtained his scar under normal circumstances. His father had given it to him.

"I… I always thought that he'd been in a training accident…" I trailed off.

"It was no accident. After the duel the Fire Lord said that by refused to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished and sent to capture the avatar. Only then could he return with his honor." Iroh finished.

"That's why he's so obsessed… Capturing the avatar is the only way he can return home. It's the only way he can restore his honor. It's the only way for things to return to normal." I mused. Iroh shook his head.

"Things will never return to normal, but the important thing is that the avatar gives Zuko hope." Iroh said. I was about to nod, but suddenly I heard a loud crash. "The storm!" Iroh cried. We ran onto the deck. The rest of the crew, along with Prince Zuko, had already gathered.

"Where were we hit?" Zuko shouted through the wind and rain of the rumbling typhoon.

"I don't know!" I tried to look around, but there was dirty rainwater in my eyes. Suddenly I noticed a wisp of smoke up by the helmsman's peak. "Look!" I pointed. The lookout deck was completely destroyed and the helmsman was hanging off the edge.

"The helmsman!" Zuko called. Zuko ran over to a ladder that led up to the helmsman's peak. I followed him up the ladder. Suddenly, the ship hit a large wave and the helmsman slipped. He fell, but Zuko grabbed his arm and lowered him down to me. Lucky for him, he was skinny and light. I looked up at Zuko. He smiled. I smiled and nodded. _We saved the say!_ I thought excitedly to myself. We brought the helmsman down to the deck. Some guards took him below, where it was dry. We were about to follow them. "The avatar!" Zuko cried. I looked towards the sky to see the sky bison flying through the storm.

"What should we do?" I asked Prince Zuko.

"Let him go." Zuko ordered. My eyes widened. "We need to get this ship to safety."

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm." Iroh smiled.

Tikaani's POV:

For the record, this was a terrible idea. I lost my breakfast over the edge of the ship. _How does Zuko do it?_ I thought as we hit another wave. I was like this before we left port, before the storm even started. As the waves increased, so did my seasickness. _Never again. No more boats. EVER._ I promised myself, hoping never to break the promise. _Come on Aang, please save us…_

"I'm too young to die!" Sokka cried.

"I'm not but I still don't wanna!" The old man cheered. Just then, Appa showed up and I leaped through the air, grabbing hold of Appa's rains and climbing my way into the saddle. I curled up in a fetal position and promised myself that I'd never get on a boat ever again. Aang brought Sokka and the old man onto the saddle.

"Wave!" I cried. A huge tower stretched over us. _If I die in the anime, do I die in real life? _I wondered as the wave crashed down on us. We were swept into the ocean. We all would have died, had Aang not entered the avatar state and saved our friggin' butts! We flew off, into the sky. I looked back at Zuko as he watched us fly away. He was so sad… I wished I could slap that scar off his face… He'd probably like that… I giggled to myself and collapsed onto the saddle, unconscious.


	11. Chapter 10: The Dark Spirits

Ryuu's POV:

"Absolutely not! The Yuyan archers stay here." Colonel Shinu refused. "Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."

"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider. Their precision is legendary. The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred miles away without killing it. You're wasting their talents, using them as mere security guards." Zhao paused. I watched from the shadows as one archer split a previous arrow in two. I know, I know… I should have better things to do than stalk Commander Zhao. I would have better things to do, except that Zuko had snuck off the ship. I was heading to my room and I noticed that his door was open. When I went to close it, I noticed that Zuko wasn't there. There were three masks lying on his bed. I recognized them from the play _Love Amongst the Dragons_.

I really loved the mask of the Dragon Emperor, Noren, so I tried it on. I didn't mean to snoop, but I kind of wondered why he had an assortment of masks from _Love Amongst the Dragons_. I wondered if he had anymore, so I kind of searched his room. I didn't find anything, except for this really cool ninja uniform. After I changed into it, I thought I might see how stealthy I could be. I decided to go to Colonel Shinu's base, cause Zhao was there.

"I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers and what I say goes." Colonel Shinu argued.

"But my search for the avatar is-"

"Is nothing but a vanity project! We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got, commander!" Shinu stated.

"But-" Zhao's efforts to convince Shinu were futile.

"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it!" Shinu snapped. I snickered. _Tough luck, Zhao, but it looks like_\- I froze when I heard the shriek of a hawk. I looked up to see a messenger hawk flying towards Shinu. He opened the message and his eyes widened.

"News from Fire Lord Ozai?" Zhao snatched the paper out of his hands and skimmed over it. He snickered. "It appears I've been promoted to admiral. My request… is now an order." Shinu responded by bowing to Zhao before he walked away. _What? Admiral? Like he deserves such a position! Why don't you just slap a crown on my head and call me Earth King while you're at it?_ I thought before angrily turning around. I froze when I came face to face with another masked ninja. Who'd a thunk that another masked ninja would be spying on Zhao. This ninja was wearing a mask of the Dark Water Spirit, another mask from _Love Amongst the Dragons_. That's when I realized that the only mask that I hadn't seen in Zuko's room was the Dark Water Spirit mask.

I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of it. The last thing I wanted was to be discovered by Zhao. The other ninja and I left soundlessly and wordlessly. He didn't say anything until we were back in his room.

"Why did you follow me?" Zuko asked.

"I didn't follow you. I just felt like stalking Zhao." I explained. "And if you're going to sneak away in a ninja costume, at least bother shutting the door before you go!" I chastised. Zuko glared at me.

"And GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" He hollered, shoving me out and slamming the door behind him. I smirked because I was still wearing the mask and ninja costume. _Yay, now I get to keep it!_

Tikaani's POV:

"You know what I love about Appa the most? His sense of humor!" Sokka mumbled. He began to sweat and I shivered. _So this is what it feels like to be delusional?_ I thought in my last moments of sanity. _I can't wait!_ I started to shiver more violently. I swear I was shivering so bad that my brain had turned to liquid and was now oozing out my ears. I crossed and uncrossed my eyes, fathoming at how my vision was getting so in and out of focus.

"That's nice." Katara stated sweetly. "I'll tell him."

"I bet you wouldn't think me funny if I threw you off a cliffside." Appa roared indignantly. Sokka and I both began to laugh.

"Classic Appa!" We cheered. I snorted a little.

"How are Sokka and Tikaani doing?" Aang worried.

"Not good. Being out in that storm really did a number on them." Katara explained. She placed cold cloths onto our heads. I shivered and sweated at the same time. My eye twitched.

"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea." Aang confessed. "But I found a map. There's an herbalist institute on the top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka and Tikaani there."

"Aang, these two are in no condition to travel!" Katara protested. "They just need more rest. I'm sure they'll be better by tomorrow." She smiled, but a bout of coughing soon came over her.

"Not you too!" Aang mused sorrowfully.

"Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi-" Katara was interrupted by another, more severe bout of coughing. She moaned afterwards.

"That's how they started yesterday! Now look at them! Sokka thinks he's an earthbender and Tikaani thinks she's in love with Zuko!"

"Take that you rock!" Sokka grumbled as he tried to earthbend.

"Wherefore art thou Zuko?" I cried. _As long as I'm delusional, I might as well confess my love._

"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too." Aang added. "I'm going to find some medicine!" Aang opened his glider and walked towards the edge of the building. Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Maybe it's safer if I go on foot. Keep an eye on them, guys." Aang said to Appa and Momo. The two of them roared.

"Why must you condemn us to this suffering?" They asked.

"Oh, you guys are killing me!" Sokka laughed. I vaguely wondered if he was hearing different things than I was.

Ryuu's POV:

"We haven't been able to pick up the avatar's trail since the storm." I stated as I pointed at the map. We were strategizing in the helmsman's peak. Neither of us said a word about what had happened the previous evening. "But if we continue heading northeast-" I stopped as a shadow passed over the map. Looking out the window I saw a huge ship. _Zhao._ I sneered, remembering my last run in with the brain dead admiral.

"What do they want?" Zuko sneered.

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!" Iroh cheered.

"I don't think they want to play a game." I muttered. Five of Zhao's guards stormed onto our ship and into the helmsman's peak. One of the guards pulled out a wanted poster of the avatar.

"The hunt for the avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the avatar must be reported to Admiral Zhao." The guard informed.

"Zhao's been promoted? Well good for him!" Iroh congratulated. I rolled my eyes. _I respect Iroh and all, but why does he have to be so kind to that deluded hog monkey?_

"I've got nothing to report to Zhao." Zuko growled. "Now get off my ship, and let us pass!" He ordered.

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The guard stated firmly. I knew that Zuko was going to lose his cool.

"Off my ship!" He stormed. The guard nodded before calmly leaving with the rest of them. I glared after them. _Not letting us pass?Is Zhao afraid we'll get in the way of his plans _again_?_

"Excellent! I take the put!" Iroh cheered as he cleared the Pai Sho board. "But you are all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again." Iroh convinced. I had to chuckle. No one could beat Iroh; I've tried and failed.

"I'm going down to the deck." Zuko grunted before leaving the room. I watched him go. I wanted to follow him, but decided against it. He needed to blow of some steam. About an hour later, Iroh walked up to me.

"Let's go talk to Prince Zuko." He suggested. I nodded. Even though I had trouble getting along with Zuko sometimes, I couldn't help but worry about him. I guess I also felt sorry for him. His own father challenged him to an Agni Kai at the age of thirteen, then banished him because he refused to fight. We came out onto the main deck to see Zuko blowing fireballs into the sky.

"Is everything okay?" Iroh asked. "It has been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order!"

"I don't care what they do." Zuko snapped.

"Sweet!" I cheered. "I'm going to go get a massage and-" I stopped as Iroh motioned with his hand for me to do so. My mouth clamped shut.

"Don't give up hope, yet. You can still find the avatar before Zhao." Iroh said.

"How uncle?" Zuko asked hopelessly. "With Zhao's resources, it's only a matter of time before he captures the avatar." Zuko slowly walked over to the edge of the deck. His arms hung loosely at his side, he was looking at the ground and he didn't even seem to notice as a cold wind blew through the air. "My honor… My throne… My country… I'm about to lose them all."

"Oh no…" I breathed. The paper slipped out of my hand and floated to the deck of the ship. I turned around to look at the messenger hawk that had brought the message to me. "Get away from here!" I snarled, blasting a fireball in the hawk's direction. It let out an undignified screeched before flapping frantically out of the way. The hawk tried to swoop down at me for revenge, but I ran into the ship and slammed the door behind me. I walked to Zuko's room. "Bad news. Zhao's-"

"Captured the avatar?" The spoiled prince spat. "I knew he would." I gulped. He was not in a good mood. That was not a good thing for anyone on this ship.

"Zuko, I…" I trailed off, trying to think of something. Suddenly, my eyes fell upon the Dark Water Spirit mask, lying on his bedside table. "Zhao might have the avatar now, but he won't for long." I smiled evilly. _Best. Plan. Ever._

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked, glaring at me. He followed my eyes to the mask. His eye widened and he snickered. The idea passed between us silently as we both plotted what we were going to do.

"And I'm not letting you go alone." I promised. "It was my idea, so-"

"So you better get ready quickly." Zuko smirked. My eyes widened. He wasn't even going to try stopping me? _He's probably going to leave me there on purpose or something. Totally worth it!_

It was way too easy to sneak into that place. Seriously, you'd think they would notice two ninjas in brightly colored masks entering a secret fortress. Of course Zuko had made me switch masks. Now I wore the mask of the dragon empress. He said it was because the dragon emperor mask was red, so it could give us away as Fire Nation citizens. I still couldn't believe I had to wear a girl's mask.

Once we were inside we easily knocked out the guards blocking the room where the avatar was being kept. When we opened the door, the kid stared at us in terror. We both drew our swords and he screamed. I supposed he thought we were torturers hired to torture him.

Zuko and I raced forward and slashed the chains that bound him.

"Who are you?" Aang asked. Neither of us said a thing. It was part of our cover. We couldn't risk someone recognizing our voices. "What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?" Zuko walked over to the door ad opened it, motioning for the avatar to follow. "I'll take that as a yes." He stated. He followed Zuko and I walked our after him. I needed to make sure we stayed on schedule and this kid was walking slowly.

"My frogs!" exclaimed. "Come back! And stop thawing out!" I grabbed his arm and dragged him away. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!" He shouted loudly. _Water tribe people like sucking on frogs? Man, this kid has the weirdest friends. I pity him and envy him at the same time._

We snuck through the pipes. I couldn't believe we were even able to leave the fortress. Zuko and I peered out from beneath the pipes and checked around for any guards. There didn't seem to be too many so we hopped out. The kid followed us. We were climbing the same rope we used to climb in when the alarm sounded.

"There, on the wall!" A guard cried. I was so shocked that I accidentally started sliding down the rope. I quickly regained control, though. I climbed as fast as I could, but Zuko and the avatar were in front of me. A guard on the wall sliced the rope we were climbing and we plummeted towards the ground. The avatar used his airbending to save us and I had to commend him.

Zuko pointed his swords towards the open gates. I nodded and we began to rush towards the gates.

"The avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" Zhao's order echoed across the grounds and the guards came out to stop us.

"Stay close to me!" The avatar said, running in front of us. He airbended a large group of guards out of the way. We headed towards the gates again, but a group of guards surrounded Zuko and I. The kid ran ahead. He was a fast runner. He would definitely make it out of this fortress, but what about Zuko and I? We weren't going to get out of here.

I sliced off some spearheads as the guards tried to jab us. I vaguely remembered training with Master Piandao. It was one of the few things that I was lucky enough to remember when I needed it most. I looked back at the kid, but he wasn't trying to get through the doors anymore. He was fighting some guards. _What is he doing? This is his chance to get out of here… And the doors are closed._ I thought just as they clanged shut. Zuko and I jumped as the kid sliced the guards away with his airbending. It bothered me how most of our actions were mirrored. _Wait, what is he-?_

The avatar boosted us up over the wall with a powerful gust of air. We both landed on our feet, but a moment later guards surrounded us again. I was prepared to fight them off, but the airbender swooped us into the air. We were hovering high above the ground. The guards started chucking spears at us. Zuko and I sliced the spears midair. I was hoping that this hovering would work, but I could tell that the kid was having a hard time staying airborne. The spears they were hurling at us didn't help the situation. We just so managed to make it to the second wall.

The guards surrounded us once again. _Again!_ I complained in my head. _That is the third time that guards have surrounded us. Make it stop!_ I looked at the edge of the walls to see a group of guards climbing some ladders onto the wall. The avatar used his airbending to knock the guards off the ladder. He picked up the two ladders and came over to us.

"Take this!" He ordered. I took one ladder and Zuko took the other. The kid jumped on the ladder and used it like a stilt. "Jump on my back!" Zuko and I took a flying leap. Zuko landed on the kids back, I landed on Zuko's back and I thanked the spirits that I didn't weigh a lot. The kid used the first two ladders to cross the courtyard in a few swift movements. "Give me the next one!" The ladder was almost to the wall, but a guard just had to light it on fire, didn't he? The three of us leaped for the wall, but none of us could make the jump. We landed right in front of the doors, but they were clamped shut. Guards immediately ran out to surround us.

_We just can't get a break today, can we? _I thought to myself, preparing to fight the guards. They let loose powerful blasts of fire. The kid jumped in front of us and created a protective bubble of air around us.

"Hold your fire!" Zhao ordered as he stepped through the crowd of guards. A few seconds and the fire was gone. "The avatar must be captured alive!"

In a split second, Zuko lunged forwards, pressing his swords into the kid's neck. I stared. _Zuko, you little genius, you!_ Zuko and Zhao glared at one another for a short while.

"Open the gates…" Zhao growled.

"Admiral, what are you doing?" Colonel Shinu asked.

"Let them out!" He ordered angrily. "Now!"

Slowly, the gates opened. Zuko walked backwards and I did as well, standing in front of the kid, just in case they got any funny ideas. I watched the gates close, but did not let my guard down. We were almost to the woods. We were almost to safety. I watched Zhao cautiously as he glared at us from atop the outermost wall. He was up to something; he was going to try something. I couldn't have expected what it was, though. At least, not until the arrow hit my forehead and everything went black.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a bright green forest. All of the colors were blurred and mashed together. I blinked a couple times to clear my vision. I turned my head slightly and saw the avatar sitting on a tree root. He seemed sort of sad and I didn't know why. _What am I doing here? _I wondered. _This kid… He… He didn't… What happened? _I suddenly sat up, but when I did, pain exploded inside my head.

"Man… My head hurts…" I muttered. "What happened?"

"You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is?" The kid wondered aloud. I knew it was a rhetorical question.

"No. What?" I asked, sort of dazed.

"I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us… We'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I've ever had. And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you." He paused and I thought about it. "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?" I thought about it.

"Yeah." I smiled and nodded. "You're really wise for a kid." I stated. "I don't even know your name…" I trailed off.

"Its Aang." He informed.

"I'm Ryuu." I told him my name in turn. I also promised never to call him 'the avatar' again. I was going to address him by name. "Why did you save us? We've been hunting you down for so long now."

"Well… I couldn't leave you there." Aang mumbled. "I don't know why, I just _couldn't_ have left you there. Why did you save me?"

"To tell you the truth…" I trailed off. How was I supposed to tell him that we only rescued him so we could capture him? "We only rescued you because we didn't want Zhao to succeed. I know that sounds selfish, but…"

"I would have done the same thing in your situation." He sympathized.

"No, you wouldn't have. You would have saved you just because you like saving people. I did it for selfish reasons. I wanted- no, I needed to confront Zhao. He knows who my parents are. He knows what happened to them. I don't know how he knows, but he mentioned it at Roku's temple." I confessed my secrets. I don't know why. I had never even told Iroh these thoughts. How could I tell a complete stranger?

"You don't know who your parents are?" Aang questioned sadly. I closed my eyes and nodded.

"Zuko and Iroh found me floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of the ocean. When I woke up, I had this scar and I could only remember my name." I sighed. "If I could just get Zhao to tell me something, anything about my parents… I might be able to remember them."

"I never knew my parents. It never really bothered me, though. I had Gyatso, the monk who trained me, and friends from every nation…" Aang smiled. "And now I have friends who can help me, even if all my friends from a hundred years ago are gone." I nodded slowly as I listened. I was about to reply, but someone shot a ball of fire towards Aang. He leaped into the trees and disappeared from sight.

"What's your problem?" I shouted at Zuko. _Had he been listening that entire time? _"I was trying to have a conversation!" Zuko didn't say anything. He just stared off as Aang left.

"Let's get back to the ship." He muttered after a long silence. I nodded.

Tikaani's POV:

"Suck on these. They'll make you feel better." Aang promised as he made us suck on the frozen frogs. They actually didn't taste to bad.

"Make any new friends?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Yeah… I think so…" Aang mumbled before collapsing onto Appa's tail. I raised an eyebrow. That wasn't right. Did Zuko do something different? Unless… _Ryuu! He must have talked to Ryuu!_

"Mm, this is tasty!" Sokka exclaimed as he sucked on a frozen frog. The frog thawed out and Sokka spat it out. He started wiping his tongue on Appa to get the germs out of his mouth, and Katara squealed in disgust before discarding hers. I simply spat the frog out.

"Can I get another one of those frogs?" I asked. Sokka and Katara looked at me as if I was messed up. "What? It was tasty!"


	12. Chapter 11: Love

Tikaani's POV:

"Look!" Katara cried, pointing at the river. A fish leaped out of the water.

"He is taunting us!" Sokka exclaimed. "You are so gonna be dinner!" He ran over to the tent and pulled out a fishing rod. When he ran back to the shore, however, he realized that the line was gone. "Hey, where's the fishing line?"

"Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka." Aang explained, holding up a necklace and smiling. Sokka stared at the necklace.

"It's all tangled!" He complained.

"Not tanged, woven!" Aang corrected. "I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one…" He smiled as he held up the necklace.

"Thanks, Aang, I love it." Katara said as she took the necklace.

"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka muttered sarcastically.

"I'm sure he has time for both." I stated, finally joining the conversation. I had been sun bathing on a rock the whole time. I heard a splash and saw Sokka throw the fishing pole at the fish. "Wow, Sokka, nice throw!" I smiled as he missed. I watched his futile attempts to catch the fish and rolled my eyes.

"You could do better?" Sokka snapped. I smirked.

"My pleasure." I waterbended the fish out of the water, dropped it onto the rock in front of me, and then killed it. Sokka narrowed his eyes at me. I flashed an evil smile for a split second before I noticed what was going on by the shore.

"How do I look?" Katara asked Aang.

"You mean all of you, or just your neck? Because both look great!" Aang flirted. Sokka and I both made kissy faces.

"Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love!" Sokka cheered.

"Katara and Aang, sitting on Appa, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I teased.

"Stop teasing him! Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy, just like Momo!" Katara cooed. I could tell that Aang looked hurt.

"Thanks…" He whispered slowly. I felt sorry for him, even though I'm a Taanger.

"What's that?" I asked as I heard a loud roar.

"Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!" Aang exclaimed. I watched the platypus bear attack the strange man. Aang, Katara and Sokka shouted advice for what he should do, but he didn't listen. He swerved and ducked to avoid the platypus bear's claws, but he didn't strike back. Appa managed to sneak up behind the platypus bear and roar. The platypus bear laid an egg before scurrying off in fear. Sokka picked up the egg.

"Mm, lunch!" He purred before turning to the strange man. "Lucky for you we came along."

"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry." The strange man stated calmly.

"That thing would have eaten you up and spit you out!" I shouted. "You are so lucky that Appa managed to scare it away, otherwise we'd all be dead."

"No, no. Aunt Wu predicted I would have a safe journey." The stranger smiled. "You saved me, so I am safe!"

"Aunt Wu? Who is that supposed to be?" I asked, even though I already knew who she was. She was this crazy old fortuneteller from this crazy old village.

"She is the fortuneteller from my village." He explained.

"So she said you'd have a safe journey?" I asked. He nodded. "You almost got killed by a platypus bear! How is that safe?"

"I didn't die. I am perfectly fine! Have a good one." He smiled and almost walked off. "Oh, and Aunt Wu told me to give this to any travelers I might meet." He handed Aang and Katara an umbrella. As soon as he had left, the clouds opened up and rain came down. Katara and Aang huddled under the umbrella, I created an umbrella using my waterbending, and Sokka was left in the rain. It stopped raining before we reached the village, which made sense because it was only a light shower.

"Let's get this fortune stuff over with." I muttered. We walked into Aunt Wu's fortune telling place. I looked around at the room. There were four pillows for sitting on. _How convenient._

"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." A girl explained as she walked into the room. She stared at Aang for a few moments. He was itching his nose. "Well hello there."

"Hello." Aang said simply. He didn't seem to notice the way she looked at him. I rolled my eyes and collapsed onto a pillow. I didn't pay attention to Meng as she flirted with Aang. I just wanted to get this over with. And to find out if I'd end up with Zuko or if he'd chose Mai over me. Soon Meng left.

"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense." Sokka complained.

"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained." Katara piped up. "Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?" She asked.

"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs!" Sokka countered.

"Welcome young travelers." I sat up as I heard a kind old woman's voice. It was Aunt Wu, respectively. "Now who's next? Don't be shy."

"Me!" I exclaimed, leaping to my feet. Sokka, Katara and Aang stared at me with their eyebrows raised. I smiled a corny smile. "I mean… I would like to know my future, please." Aunt Wu nodded and led me to the room of her fortunes. There were two pillows. She sat upon one and I placed my bum upon another. I held out my hand for her to read. "So… What do you see? Anything about… Oh, I don't know… Maybe my love line or something like that…" I tried to sound casual.

"Very well." Aunt Wu took my hand and proceeded to read my palms. "I can see a great romance in your future. The man you are going to marry… He will be a very powerful bender." My eyes widened. _Please don't let it be Aang. That's exactly what she said to Katara in this episode, and she married Aang! But Zuko is a powerful bender too._ "He is a conflicted young man." She finished. _Definitely Zuko!_ I thought happily.

"Thank you so much, Aunt Wu!" I cheered before leaving the room. There was a huge smile on my face. As I entered the waiting room, I noticed Sokka glaring at me. "You'll never guess-"

"I don't care…" Sokka mumbled. He seemed really upset.

"Are you okay, Sokka?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great!" Sokka muttered sarcastically. I wondered what his problem was. That was when I realized that Sokka had been eavesdropping. _Red said that he still had a crush on me. Now I feel so bad for him. Aunt Wu predicted that I'd marry a powerful bender, and Sokka isn't a bender at all. He knows that we won't be together, that's why he's so upset._

"Sokka, we're friends. You can tell me what's bothering you." I coaxed.

"Listen, Tikaani, I don't want to talk right now." Sokka grumbled. He got up and left the room. Aunt Wu walked in after he left.

"Who's next?" She asked.

"I want to go next!" Katara mused. She followed Aunt Wu. I decided to walk out after Sokka. He was sitting against the wall of Aunt Wu's place. I stood there in silence, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. After a while, Aang and Katara walked out of the building. We started to walk away.

"Well now you got to see for yourselves that fortunetelling is just a big stupid hoax." Sokka chastised as we walked away. I looked away awkwardly. As much as I liked Sokka, I only thought of him as a friend.

"You didn't even have your fortune read." Katara scolded. "Maybe if you had, you wouldn't be so grumpy."

"None of Aunt Wu's predictions could make me feel any better or worse than I already feel!" Sokka argued.

"Why are you acting so grumpy anyways?" Katara asked.

"Because of how stupid you all are to believe in Aunt Wu's stupid predictions!" Sokka exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. "Well you can believe in whatever you want to believe in. I don't think any of it is true. I can determine my own future!" He exclaimed before storming off. I looked away guiltily.

"What's going on over there?" Aang asked. I looked up to see the crowd gathered around the shrine in the center of the village. Aunt Wu was standing there.

"The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Mikapu will remain dormant for another year, or if it will erupt." A village woman explained.

"We used to have a tradition once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves, but ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of not doing that." Another man explained. I recognized him as the one who almost got killed by the platypus bear. I paid him no mind and listened to all of Aunt Wu's predictions.

"Wavy moon-shape cloud, let's see… Gonna be a great year for twins!" Aunt Wu predicted. I thought about Ryuu.

"Oh, yeah!" I cheered, just a little too loud. Everyone stared at me quizzically, as it didn't appear that I had a twin. The crowd paid little attention after that, but Katara and Aang continued to stare at me.

"And a cumulus cloud, with a twisty lump coming off the end of it. The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!" Aunt Wu cried. The crowd cheered and dispersed, leaving me to explain to Aang and Katara.

"You have a twin?" Aang asked. I nodded slowly.

"Where is she? Why didn't you tell us before?" Katara asked.

"Not 'she,' 'he.'" I explained. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to talk about it. I don't think he remembers me." I sighed.

"He's your brother." Aang stated. "How could he not remember you?"

"We were attacked by a powerful firebender. He told me to go while he distracted her. I had no choice but to run. My brother was hurt badly. He's fine now, but I think that he lost his memory after the fight." I sighed again. This was the first time I was telling them something about myself that wasn't a downright lie. "The last couple times I've seen him, he hasn't shown any signs that he even recognized me. What if he never remembers?" I asked sadly. I sighed again and looked at the ground.

"What is his name?" Katara inquired. I gulped. Both of them would freak out when I told them. Both of them would think of him as an enemy. What if they thought of me as an enemy as well? I couldn't do it.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore…" I whispered. Katara and Aang looked at one another before they slowly walked away. I was about to go my own direction when I heard someone panting.

"The volcano!" Sokka ran through the crowd. "The volcano, it's going to-"

"Oh… Hey, Sokka…" I wondered why he'd gone up to the volcano. In the episode, him and Aang went up together to find a panda lily for- _Crap! Sokka went to the volcano to get me a panda lily? _My eyes widened. _If he gives it to me now there's no way I'll be able to reject him! _I was about to go into a panic attack. Luckily, Sokka interrupted me.

"The volcano is going to erupt!" Sokka exclaimed. "I don't care what Aunt Wu said, I went up there myself and it is going to _blow_!" Just as Sokka said that, the earth began to rumble. Loud booms echoed from the Mt. Mikapu. Aang and Katara ran through the marketplace, looking for us.

"The volcano is-" Aang began, but I cut him off.

"We know! We have to tell the villagers!" I exclaimed. I ran to the shrine that Aunt Wu had made her volcano prediction from. All the villagers stopped to look at me. "That volcano is going to blow any second! Aunt Wu was wrong!" I shouted. The villagers looked at each other doubtfully. I could tell that none of them believed a word I said. "Sokka saw the lava with his own eyes!"

"I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears!" One of the villagers argued. Aang leaped onto one of the buildings.

"Please listen to us! You are all in danger!" Aang urged. "And we have to get out of here. You can't rely on Aunt Wu's predictions. You have to take fate into your own hands!" As soon as Aang finished, a loud 'boom' echoed through the air. The earth trembled again and all the villagers looked at the mountain. They had to be able to see the thick smoke rising from it.

"Can your fortune telling explain that?" Sokka asked, pointing at the volcano.

"Can your science explain why it rains?" A villager criticized.

"Yes, yes it can!" Sokka snapped. The villagers dispersed and Aang leaped off the roof to join us.

"They won't listen to reason." Katara mumbled sadly.

"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" Aang exclaimed.

"I have an idea!" I cheered. "First we need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book…" I trailed off. The others seemed to get my jiff. Katara, Sokka and I stood watch outside while Aang went in. Soon he came out with the cloud reading book. We hopped on Appa and flew threw the clouds, bending them into the shape that would predict volcanic doom. As soon as it was complete, Sokka would go get Aunt Wu and the villagers would know about the danger. As soon as the clouds were done, we swooped down and landed in the village.

"We can still save the village if we act fast!" Aang said. "Sokka has a plan."

"Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench, we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river." Sokka explained.

"If any of you are earthbenders, come with me." Aang called.

"Everyone else, grab a shovel!" Sokka ordered. Another shockwave hit. "Come on, we've got to hurry!" Sokka exclaimed. The villagers ran as quickly as possible to get the job done. They did it quickly, and there were quite a lot of earthbenders to help. I even helped out with the digging.

"Everyone needs to evacuate!" Aang called as the volcano shook again. The smoke coming from it was jet black and the lava was glowing a bright orange color. "We'll come for you when it's safe!" All the villagers left the village. Aang, Katara, Sokka and I stood at the edge of the trench to watch as it filled with lava.

"Its too much!" Katara shouted above the shock waves.

"The trench isn't deep enough! It's going to overflow!" I yelled above the crackling flames. Katara and Sokka began to run, but Aang and I stood our ground. They stopped when they noticed that we were still standing there. Aang rushed forward and used a powerful airbending move to cool the lava, putting out most of the flames. I watched in awe.

"Wow… Sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is…" Sokka whispered woefully. "He's not conflicted, though…"

"Wait… What did you just say?" Katara asked.

"Nothing, just that Aang is one powerful bender." Sokka replied casually.

"I suppose he is…" Katara whispered to herself.

"Just friends, huh?" I whispered in her ear.

"Shut up!" She snapped. I smiled.


	13. Chapter 12: Bato

Tikaani's POV:

"Look at this nifty sword!" I called, pulling a whale tooth sword out of the ground. "Sokka! Isn't this a weapon from the Southern Water Tribe?"

"Let me see that!" Sokka exclaimed. He took the sword out of my hand. He looked at the sword and I knew he was having a flashback. "Yes. This _is_ a Water Tribe weapon. See if you can find anything else!" He said to Aang and I. Katara had stopped to replenish her bending water supply. We began searching just as she caught up.

"Did you lose something?" She asked us.

"No, we found something!" Aang exclaimed excitedly.

"It's burned." Sokka informed as he picked a spear off the ground. "There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders. The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill." Sokka ran down the hill and we followed. I had to commend his great detective work. When we reached the end of the hill, we were at an empty beach.

"The trail ends here." I muttered, kicking the sand. I looked around. "What's _that_?" I asked, pointing towards a boat. Katara and Sokka stared at it before running over to it.

"Its one of our boats!" Sokka exclaimed, racing over to it.

"Is this dad's boat?" Katara asked.

"No, but its from his fleet." Sokka concluded. "Dad was here."

We set up camp beside the boat. I listened to Katara and Sokka's water tribe stories all day. It made me wonder about my life in the North Pole. I was so young when I left that it was hard for me to remember what it was like there. I knew most of what I knew from watching the show, but I couldn't recall what it was _actually _like to live there.

Aang and Katara fell asleep quickly, but Sokka and I sat by the fire for a while. We sat in silence, as there wasn't much to talk about. There was a lot to think about, though. I wondered if my dad was still living in the Northern Water Tribe. I wondered if I would recognize him when I saw him. And then... I thought about my parents from the real world.

It always hurt to remember them. My mom died in a car crash when I was twelve years old. After the incident, my father went insane and he had to be placed in an institution. Riker and I have limited visiting hours because our foster parents don't want us to be around anyone who's mentally insane. He doesn't remember us anyway. That was one of the reasons that Riker's memory loss hurt so bad. He was the only family that I had left and now... He doesn't even remember me either.

"Who's there?" Sokka's voice shakes me back to the present. He is looking at a tall figure moving through the shadows. A man in Southern Water Tribe clothing stepped into the firelight.

"Sokka?" He asked.

"Bato?" Sokka gaped.

"Who the what now?" Aang asked.

"Bato!" Katara exclaimed.

"Sokka! Katara!" They ran up to him and hugged him. "It is so good to see you two! You've grown so much…" Bato mused.

"Hi, I'm Aang." The young airbender introduced himself.

"And I'm Tikaani." I added.

"Where's dad?" Sokka asked curiously.

"Is he here?" Katara inquired excitedly.

"No, he and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now." Bato explained. A breeze blew and all of them shivered. "This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside." Bato gestured for Aang and I to follow as well. Bato led us to the village of nuns. Aang and I felt kind of left out, but we followed. Bato shared stories as we walked along. "After I was wounded, you're father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since." Bato explained. "Superior! These are Hakoda's children. They are traveling with the avatar and this other girl. I found them by my boat."

"Young avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey." She greeted. I could tell that I would be especially left out in this episode.

"Thank you. It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything-"

"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka interjected.

"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes." Bato informed.

"Perfumes? Maybe we could dump some on Appa because he stinks to much, am I right?" Sokka jested, smiling widely.

"You have your father's whit." Bato stated flatly. He led us all towards a house. When we walked inside, there were animal skins on the walls, and even a tent in the corner.

"Bato, it looks like home!" Katara cried.

"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka mused.

"Yeah… Nothing's cozier than dead animal skins." Aang grumbled. Aang and I sat by as Bato, Katara and Sokka shared stories and sea prunes. I tried a couple, but I spit them out. They tasted horrible. The stories Bato told were a little interesting, but I wasn't listening. I was being excluded. It didn't feel good.

Ryuu's POV:

"See, Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well being." Iroh explained as he poured a cup of tea for the prince and I. We were sitting cross-legged around a very short table, sipping Iroh's expertly made Jasmine tea. Just as Zuko began to take a sip, I heard a loud boom and the ship shook. Zuko's tea was all over him and his ponytail was hanging over his face.

"Ha ha ha!" I laughed. "That's a good look for you, Zuko!" I complimented. He slammed his teacup onto the table before storming out of the room. "Guess we better go see what that banging noise was." I muttered. When I arrived on the main deck, I saw a lady riding a huge, hideous beast. The crew ran away from the giant beast as it snarled at them. I smiled charmingly and waved at the pretty rider.

"Get back! We're after a stowaway!" She informed. Zuko lumbered forward.

"There are no stowaways on my ship!" Zuko sneered. The hideous beast ripped a hole in the deck of the ship and stuck his head in, sniffing frantically.

"What the-?" I gaped at the gaping hole in the ship's deck. "You have no idea how much money its gonna take to make those repairs!" I hollered angrily. She didn't seem to notice. "Seriously, there are no-" I stopped when a man ran out of the hole in the deck. He was obviously a stowaway. He began to run, but the hideous beast lashed its tongue and the man fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"He's paralyzed!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Only temporarily." The girl informed. "The toxins will ware off in about an hour, but by then, he'll be in jail and I'll have my reward." She snickered.

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko asked.

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." She smirked before hopping aboard the creature and racing off.

"Well, I'm impressed." I admitted. "Very impressed…" Zuko glared at me venomously. "What? I bet that thing could find Aang faster than we could!" I really didn't mean to say it, but it kind of slipped out.

"You're right." He smiled. "You're absolutely right…" I hated my habit of voicing ideas out loud before thinking them through. I really didn't want to fight that kid. How could I tell him all that personal stuff about myself, and then stab him in the back? I see why Zuko didn't want me fraternizing with the enemy now. I didn't know which side to stand for.

Zuko tracked June's location to a bar nearby. We walked through the crowd of onlookers as she wrestled at a table in the center of the bar.

"Out of my way!" Zuko snarled. "Step aside, filth!" He pushed some drunkards out of his way as we headed towards June.

"He means no offense! I'm certain you bathe regularly!" Iroh soothed as we walked through the crowd. Zuko stormed up to the table as she arm-wrestled.

"I need to talk to you!" He shouted above the crowd.

"Well if it isn't my new friends; angry boy, peasant guy and uncle lazy." She sneered. Iroh and I laughed at this statement. Zuko didn't find it funny. Just then, she slammed her opponent's fist to the table and the crowd cheered. They started tossing money at her.

"Your beast trashed my ship!" Zuko stormed. "You have to pay me back!"

"Well I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money." She snickered as she gathered the piles of coins on the table in front of her. "Drinks are on me!" She hollered. The crowd cheered again.

"Money isn't what I had in mind." Zuko growled, getting in her face. She narrowed her eyes at him. I grabbed Zuko's shoulder and yanked him backwards, away from June. "What are you doing?"

"Let me handle this. I know how to talk to the ladies." I smiled charmingly. Zuko snorted. I walked up to June. "Sorry about my buddy, babe. He can be a bit rough sometimes. What he meant to say was that there's a way you can help us out and we'll consider the damages to his ship paid for."

"If it's a date you want, you're out of luck." She sneered. I shook my head.

"Not a date. We can talk the price in a place a little more private. Out of this rowdy joint." I coaxed. She followed us outside, very unwillingly.

"I need you to find someone!" Zuko blurted out as soon as we were outside. He held up the water tribe girl's necklace.

"What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?" June snickered. I laughed out loud. _Zuko? Girlfriend? Ha! Maybe in a hundred years! Everyone knows I'm much better with the ladies than that hotheaded prince._ It thought to myself.

"It's not the girl I'm after. It's the bald monk she's traveling with." Zuko defended. I could tell June didn't believe it.

"Whatever you say." June rolled her eyes.

"If you can find them, we'll consider the damages paid for. And I _might_ just let you go on a date with me." I smiled and flexed my muscles, which couldn't be seen properly because of the guard uniform I was wearing. June laughed.

"Good one." She sneered, getting ready to board her Shirshu.

"Plus we'll pay your weight in gold!" Iroh promised.

"Make it your weight, and we've got a deal." June convinced. Iroh laughed.

"You got it!" Iroh chuckled. "Get on!" June ordered.

"My pleasure." I smiled, taking the spot on the saddle just behind her. "This is gonna be a fun ride." June glared at me.

"Pimp." She insulted. I laughed.

Tikaani's POV:

"There's something I should tell you kids." Bato confessed. "I'm expecting a message from your father." My eyes widened and I looked over to where Katara and Sokka were sitting around a fire.

"Really?" Katara wondered.

"When?" Sokka asked.

"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives, you can come with me and see your father again."

"It's been over two years since we've seen dad!" Sokka exclaimed. "That would be so incredible, Katara!"

"I do really miss him. It would be great to see dad." Katara agreed. Aang was about to get up to leave the room, but I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. He shrugged me off and left anyway. I sighed before walking out after him. We walked all the way to Bato's boat.

"I can't believe they would leave me…" Aang whispered to himself. I listened. He hadn't noticed me following him. He looked at the ground until he heard an ostrich horse's call.

"I'm looking for Bato of the Water Tribe." The guy atop the ostrich horse said.

"Uh… I know Bato." Aang replied.

"Make sure he gets this." The messenger stated as he handed Aang a letter. The latter unrolled it to look at it.

"It's the mad to Sokka and Katara's dad!" Aang exclaimed. He crumpled it up and shoved it inside his shirt.

"You need to tell them." I interjected. Aang was so surprised that he jumped off the boat and landed in the sand. "Its not right to keep them from seeing their father. They didn't stop you from talking to Roku."

"But… What if they want to find their father?" Aang asked.

"Then I'll still be here." I told him. "I can still go with you. Plus, if you try to hide it, I'll tell them." I added, just to be sure. Aang didn't say anything. We remained silent as we walked back to Bato's.

"Hey everyone. I'm sorry I was gone so long." Aang apologized. I followed him into the hut and nudged him with my elbow. "I went down to the beach." He continued. "While I was there, a messenger gave me this. It's the map to your father." Aang confessed. I smiled and nodded.

"Aang, that's great!" Sokka cheered, rushing over to us and taking the map. He seemed so excited. There was a bright light in his eyes, but that light dulled almost as soon as it had appeared. "I'm glad you told us, but we're not going to see our father. We already decided that helping you get to the North Pole is more important."

"But you haven't seen your father in years!" Aang exclaimed in disbelief.

"That doesn't matter now." Katara said. "The North Pole is our top priority."

"Thanks guys… That means so much to me!" Aang cried. The three of them were about to do a group hug without me, but I jumped in at the last second.

"Group hugs, everybody!" I cheered wildly, squeezing everyone tightly.

"This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father." Bato declared.

"Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?" Sokka asked.

"Yup. It's got the scar to prove it." Bato pointed out. "How about you, Sokka. You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging."

"He never got to go." Katara piped up. "Dad left before he was old enough."

"Oh, I forgot you were too young." Bato remembered.

"What's ice dodging?" Aang and I asked at the same time.

"It's a right of passage for young water tribe members. When you turn fourteen, you're dad takes you…" Bato trailed off when he saw Sokka's look of hurt and exclusion. "You know what. You're about to find out."

Ice dodging was much more fun than I had expected it to be. I earned the mark of the brave along with Katara. Sokka earned the mark of the wise and Aang earned the mark of the trusted. This time, Aang accepted it, as the guilt of secrecy was not bearing down on him. We all headed back to the village, laughing and carrying on.

"And then it was all like 'WHOOSH!' when we went right over those pointy, deadly rocks!" I exclaimed. We were walking back to Bato's place when I heard loud footsteps. _The shirshu!_ I thought. I turned around to see the doors of the abbey busted open by June's ferocious pet. The shirshu ran over to us. June whipped the shirshu and its tongue lashed out. I dove out of the way just in time, but the tongue struck Bato, Katara, Sokka, and Aang. _Aang? This is not good!_ I widened my eyes as I realized that I'd have to fight them all off _by myself. At least until the nuns make the perfume that reverses the toxins. _I thought to myself.

"Get the avatar!" Zuko ordered. With a flash of her whip, June's Shirshu raced towards Aang. I jumped in the way and the tongue lashed towards me, but I just so managed to get out of the tongue's range. I thought I'd have to dodge it forever. Thankfully, Appa intervened. He bashed his iron-hard skull into the shirshu, sending it and all of its riders skidding across the ground.

"Thanks Appa!" I cheered. Iroh, June, and the shirshu were distracted now, so I only had to deal with Ryuu and Zuko. The nuns were dragging the others towards the hut where they kept their perfumes, so they would be able to fight in a few moments. I just had to hold off two firebenders until then. Both of them blasted flames in my direction, but I ducked, and slapped both of them in the face with waterbending.

"You're going to have to do better than that to beat us!" Ryuu exclaimed, spitting out water as he did so.

"Oh, I can do better." I smiled. I picked both of them up using my water whip, and then hurled them across the abbey. Let's just say I'd been practicing a lot in between episodes. I was no master, but I was getting better. I could control two water whips at once now. It would definitely be enough to hold off two buffoons until Aang was ready to fight Zuko.

"That was a little better." Ryuu tormented as him and Zuko stood to their feet. Ryuu snickered. "But still not good enough." He sneered, kicking a huge fireball in my direction. I dived out of the way, but Zuko threw another fireball. It was heading right towards my face and I was still in midair. I wasn't going to be able to dodge it in time.

Suddenly a gust of air blew in front of me, blocking the fireball. I fell to the ground, a little shaken, but otherwise completely unharmed. Aang jumped in front of me and faced Zuko.

"Your fight is with me!" He exclaimed. They began their face off, eventually ending up at the well in the middle of the abbey. Zuko and Aang did their little dance around the well while I faced Ryuu.

"Are you going to tell me who you are now?" Ryuu asked bitterly.

"I wouldn't have to tell you if you'd just remember." I muttered to myself. Ryuu grunted before hurling three fireballs in my direction. I ducked and turned out of the way to avoid all of them. With every passing second, Ryuu became angrier. I didn't fire a single blow. I just dodged.

"Why won't you fight back?" Ryuu exclaimed, enraged.

"I don't want to hurt you." I responded. I knew that Katara would start her perfume bending soon, so I knocked over a container of perfume and began to spread it throughout the area. June's shirshu lost control. Its tongue lashed out, striking Iroh, June, and Zuko before the shirshu fled.

"Let's get out of here!" Sokka exclaimed, hopping atop Appa. We flew off. I looked back. _Ryuu… When will you remember me?_ I looked at the others. None of them had seen my fight with Ryuu. They didn't know that he was my brother and I didn't plan to tell them. We sat in silence for a while.

"You must miss your dad. I wish I could give you a piece of home, Katara." Aang broke the silence. "Something to remind you-"

"I'll be okay." Katara interrupted.

"Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like this!" Aang exclaimed, holding up Katara's necklace. She gasped.

"Aang, how'd you get that?"

"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you." Aang smirked.

"Aw, that's so sweet of Zuko!" Katara joked. "Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?"

"Sure!" Aang chimed. Katara kissed Aang on the cheek and he turned scarlet.

Ryuu's POV:

"Ryuu?" Zuko stared at me as I pretended to be paralyzed. June was lying next to me and I had my arm around her. "I didn't see you get hit with the tongue."

"Sh!" I shushed, winking at Zuko. June glared at me with hatred in her eyes.


	14. Chapter 13: The North Pole

**Yes, I skipped a couple episodes. Only some pointless filler ones, though. I skipped 'The Deserter' and 'The Northern Air Temple.'**

Tikaani's POV:

After meeting Jeong Jeong and traveling to the Northern Air Temple, we were heading towards the North Pole. A vast expanse of ocean waves surrounded us and ice jutted out of the water.

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka chastised.

"You complain all the time, so I don't want to hear it." I retorted. "I mean how do you think Appa feels? How would you feel if we all got on your back and made you fly us to the North Pole?"

"I'd love to!" Sokka cheered sarcastically. "Climb on everybody, Sokka's ready for take off." In response, Momo leaped onto Sokka's back. Sokka glared at the small creature in annoyance.

"Look, we're all just a little cranky because we've been flying for two days straight!" Katara intervened.

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here!" Sokka grumbled. I bent some water out of the ocean and made a snowball before chucking it at Sokka.

"We have water and snow and ice!" I chimed. "That's not-" I was interrupted by a shout as an iceberg appeared out of nowhere. Appa swerved to avoid it, but his foot got caught on a piece of ice and he began to head full speed towards the water. As soon as we were safely floating, the water around us froze and some boats came out from behind some icebergs. They were steered by waterbenders.

"They're waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!" Katara exclaimed.

"Actually, they found us." I corrected. The waterbenders led us through the water until we spotted a massive icy wall in the distance.

"There it is!" Aang exclaimed. I looked at the walls. _Is my dad really here?_ I wondered as the waterbenders in the boat let us through. They created an opening in the wall big enough for Appa to swim through and we entered the North Pole. We sailed through the water streets of the city. It was an icy version of Venice. People crowded around the icy sidewalks as we sailed passed. Aang waved happily to the crowds. I didn't join in.

I watched Sokka as Yue's boat went passed. He stared at her and his cheeks went scarlet. _Yes! She should keep me off his mind for a couple episodes. _I thought happily. _I wish I could prevent her death, but there's nothing I can do. If Zhao doesn't kill Tui, then La won't kill him. If Zhao lives..._ I shook my head slowly. _There's nothing I can do to prevent Yue's death. Zhao has to die. He deserves it..._

"This place is beautiful!" Katara mused.

"Yeah… she is…" Sokka sighed happily as he watched Yue. I rolled my eyes as we sailed on. The boats stopped when we reached a large ice palace. Ice stairs lead up to the ice palace. We were beginning to climb the stairs to the ice palace when I noticed a man pushing his way through the crowd of onlookers. He stopped when he emerged from the crowd and stared at me. My eyes started to water. He looked exactly like my dad- my real-life dad. Of course he had been Water Tribe-ified, but it was him.

"Tikaani?" He asked in the voice that I recognized. I hadn't heard that voice since I was twelve years old, since before he lost his mind. "Is it really you?"

"Dad!" I exclaimed, running forward and wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. Tears threatened to fall to the frozen ground, but I wouldn't let them. This was a public place with millions of people watching. I wasn't going to cry in front of them! I suppose I didn't have a choice, as the tears were already making their way down the side of my face. I knew he was crying too. "I missed you _so_ much…"

Ryuu's POV:

"Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Four seasons." I strummed away at my pipa as Iroh sung. Music night was one of my favorite nights on the ship. A fire burned and some other crewmembers danced around it. "Four loves, four seasons. Four love-"

"Hello, General Iroh. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." I cut the music as Zhao stepped onto the ship. He was flanked by two guards and I wondered what he could possible want. "I'm taking your crew."

"Its not my crew!" Iroh laughed.

"Then I need to talk with Prince Zuko." Zhao ordered. Iroh and I unwillingly agreed. We led Zhao to Zuko's room. Iroh opened the door and walked in. I followed.

"For the last time I'm not playing the Tsungi horn." Zuko snapped.

"No, it's about our plans." Iroh explained.

"Zhao's-" I began to explain, but the stuck-up admiral interrupted me.

"I'm taking your crew." Zhao informed. Zuko's good eye widened.

"What?" He shouted in dismay.

"I've recruited them for a little expedition for the North Pole. You can keep your peasant, though." Zhao sneered, looking at me in disgust.

"Uncle, is that true?" Zuko asked, looking at Iroh.

"I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone. Even the cook!" Iroh cried, burying his face in his sleeve.

"No, not the cook!" I wailed. "We're all gonna starve!"

"I'm sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the avatar, but I can't have you getting in my way again." Zhao sneered. Zuko charged forward. It took the strength of both Iroh and I to hold him back. Zhao ignored Zuko's outburst. He walked across the room and eyed the Dual Dao swords hanging on the wall. He picked up one sword and eyed it carefully. Zuko looked terrified.

"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko." Zhao muttered. I laughed and he eyed me.

"Skilled with swords? _Him_?" I laughed as if he had just cracked the funniest joke I'd ever heard. I wiped a tear from my eye. "Good one, Admiral Zhao! Those are just decorations. Zuko… skilled with swords…" I chuckled and giggled a bit more.

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit and the Dragon Spirit, General Iroh?" The admiral asked, completely ignoring my laughter.

"Just rumors. I don't think they are real." Iroh responded. _If only he knew…_

"They're real all right. They're criminals and enemies of the Fire Nation. But I have a feeling justice will catch up with them soon. General Iroh. The offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind." Zhao stated before leaving the room. I was happy to know that Iroh would never accept.

Tikaani's POV:

"Tonight we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, the return of Darek's daughter, and they bring with them someone special. Someone who many of us believed disappeared from the world until now. The avatar!" Chief Arnook announced to the people of his tribe. I was sitting alongside my father, Darek. All day I hadn't left his side. He was telling me of his life in the Northern Tribe ever since I left.

At first he had been shunned by many of his friends for falling in love with a firebender. As time went on, he reaffirmed his loyalty to the Northern Tribe. Now, he was a notable, one of chief Arnook's trusted advisors, and he was a master waterbender. It had taken him years of training with Master Pakku to become a master waterbender. He told me how he had never stopped waiting for my mother to return with Ryuu and I.

After his confession, I had to tell him mine. I told him what Ryuu did, how he had lost his memory of our family. I also told him how the Fire Nation assassin sent to eliminate us killed our mother. He took it rather well. He told me he was glad that at least I was able to come back to him.

"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday." Chief Arnook's voice brought me back to the present. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age."

"Thank you, father. May the great ocean and moon spirits watch over us during these troubled times" Princess Yue said before making her way over to sit next to Sokka.

"Now, master Pakku and his students will perform." Arnook announced, gesturing to the center stage, where Master Pakku and his students were putting on a display of waterbending. I didn't pay attention to the show. I had already decided that my father was going to teach me waterbending. If Pakku was aloud to teach Katara because she's Kana's granddaughter, then my father would be aloud to teach me. I'm his daughter.

Ryuu's POV:

"The crew wanted me to wish you safe travels." Iroh piped up as he entered Zuko's room. I was sitting in the dark corner. I don't think Zuko even knew I was there. I had a good reason to be there, though! I was sulking because I was kind of depressed. I've been flirting with one- or all- of the lady guards and none of them ever took an interest in me! I am one of the most charming, handsome guys I know. I was really hoping for a little lip action before they left.

"Good riddance to those traitors!" Zuko spat.

"It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me? It would clear your head." Iroh suggested. Zuko didn't say anything, so I decided to.

"No thanks." I mumbled. No one seemed to notice me.

"Or just stay in your room and sit in the dark." Iroh stated. "Whatever makes you happy." He closed the door and left. Soon after he was gone, Zuko spoke.

"What was that?" Zuko asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't hear anything." I didn't move from my seat either. Zuko got up and looked around.

"I heard something. Uncle?" He opened the door to his room and looked out. "Uncle, is that you?" He inquired. I sighed and followed him. _This guy's crazy… He's just hearing things! It's probably a side effect of anger and loneliness. _I followed him up to the helmsman's peak, thinking about how pointless this all was, until I looked out the window and saw an iguana bird.

"Pirates!" I exclaimed, pointing at the bird. Explosions echoed in my ears and suddenly, the world around me was fire. I held out my hands to block the flames from reaching me and I looked around. Zuko and I had created a protective wall of flames around us. The world proceeded to shake and fall apart around us, but we kept up the wall of flames for as long as we could. Another eruption sent us flying through the air and into freezing cold water. Debris from the explosion cut our skin and the water around us seemed to freeze our blood.

I peered through the freezing black abyss, but it was hard to tell up from down and left from right. Suddenly, I felt something tugging on the back of my shirt and dragging me upwards. My head broke the surface and I gasped for air. I looked up at the wall of flames that was Zuko's ship. It was hard to hear anything above the crackling flames. I looked up to see who had pulled me out of the water.

"Iroh…" I looked into the old man's kind and worried eyes before the world around me went black.

Tikaani's POV:

"How's warrior training going?" Katara asked as Sokka entered the tent. He responded by kicking his pillow and collapsing onto the ground.

"That bad?" Aang asked.

"No, its Princess Yue. I don't get it. One minute she wants to go out with me and the next, she's telling me to get lost." Sokka grumbled. "So how's waterbending training?" Sokka asked.

"Master poop head won't teach her because she's a girl!" Aang exclaimed.

"Why do you think I train with my dad in secret?" I piped up. "Its against the rules of the city to teach girls how to waterbend. My dad is so awesome! I don't know how I managed to live without him for fo- eleven years." I almost said for years, but this wasn't real life. This was an anime, a show. As much as I hated to admit it... I banned the thoughts from my mind and forced myself to listen to Katara's conversation.

"Your dad is teaching you in secret?" Katara questioned excitedly. "Maybe he can teach me too!"

"No can do. My dad _might_ actually get away with it if we end up getting caught. They might allow it, considering the family relations." I explained. "You on the other hand, could get my dad in real trouble."

"Why doesn't Aang just teach her the moves he learns from Master Pakku?" Sokka wondered aloud.

"That's a great idea!" Katara exclaimed. "Come on, Aang!" They left the tent. A couple minutes later they returned. "We got caught."

"And master poop head is refusing to teach me because I was teaching Katara!" Aang complained loudly.

"Why don't you take it to the chief?" I wondered aloud.

"I will!" Aang declared.

"What do you want me to do?" Chief Arnook asked. "Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?"

"Yes!" Katara snapped. "Please…" She added at the last second.

"I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." Chief Arnook spat. Katara glared at Pakku.

"Fine." Katara agreed bitterly. She said nothing else.

"I'm waiting little girl." Master Pakku smiled evilly. I wished I had a bag of popcorn. Unfortunately, it wasn't invented yet.

"No. No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Katara shouted. The ground beneath her began to crack and every vase in the room burst open. "I'll be outside if your man enough to fight me!" She challenged before storming out of the room.

"WOO HOO!" I cheered excitedly. "YOU GO, KATARA!" Everyone in the chamber stared at me. I smiled a corny smile before skipping out of the room, singing the '_Underdog_'theme song as I went.

"Are you crazy Katara? You're not going to win this fight!" Sokka said as he followed Katara and I. I took a seat in the front row and waited for Pakku to show up. He walked down the ice stairs.

"So, you decided to show up?" Katara sneered. Pakku completely ignored her and walked passed as if he hadn't heard. "Aren't you going to fight?"

"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong." Pakku retorted, waving his hand as if dismissing her. Katara grimaced. She lashed at him with a water whip as he was walking away. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad? Study closely." Pakku blasted a huge spout of water towards her. Katara leaped right into it, completely unaffected.

The fight ended exactly how anyone would have expected it to. Master Pakku trapped Katara in a cage of ice spears. She couldn't move her hands, so she was unable to free herself.

"This fight is over." Pakku growled. He started walking away.

"Come back here, I'm not finished yet!" Katara protested, still unable to move.

"Yes, you are." Pakku replied. He was walking away, but he stopped when he saw Katara's necklace, which had fallen off during the fight. He bent over to pick it up. "This is my necklace…"

"No it's not, it's mine. Give it back!" Katara ordered.

"I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life. For Kana." The ice cage around Katara melted as Pakku gazed at the necklace.

"My gran-gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara inquired in disbelief.

"I carved this necklace for her when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her." Pakku finished sadly. I felt bad for him, even though he's sexist and stuff.

"But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage…" Katara felt bad for him too, I could tell. "Gran-gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage."

Ryuu's POV:

"Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing." Iroh explained. It was a miracle that Zuko and I had made it out of that ship alive. Now, by some other miracle, we were working as guards on Zhao's ship. Iroh's plan was a clever one.

"You didn't have to do this." Zuko told Iroh, removing his facemask only temporarily. Both of our faces were cut up and bruised badly.

"I wasn't going to let you two stowaway on a ship without some backup."

"Thank you, uncle." Zuko thanked. A door clanged in the distance.

"Someone's coming. Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the avatar will be yours. Good luck." Iroh was about to walk off, but I called after him.

"Think you can sneak me some jasmine tea?" I asked.

"Without a doubt." He smiled.


	15. Chapter 14: CPR in the Shadows

Tikaani's POV:

"You've advanced more quickly than any student I've ever trained." Master poop he- I mean Pakku- mused as he complimented Katara on her success in training. "You have proven that with fierce determination, passion and hard work, you can accomplish anything. Raw talent alone is not enough." Pakku glared at Aang, who was goofing off with Momo a little ways away. I laughed.

"Tikaani." I turned around to face my father. As I had suspected, we were allowed to train in public after Pakku started training Katara. I had been picking up tips from not one, but two master waterbenders. The training had done wonders for my waterbending. I was so much better than when I'd started out. Katara and I might even have a draw if we dueled! "You are the first student I've ever trained, but I have no doubt that you'll probably be the best. I'm not just saying that because I'm your father." He added.

"Thanks dad." I smiled. My smile faltered a bit when I realized that I would soon have to leave the North Pole. I didn't let him see it, though. "It means a lot that you trained me. You've been missing for the past eleven years of my life."

"Watching you grow up is one of the things I missed the most in the years you were gone." My father confessed. We've had many talks like this one since I arrived here. I talked about growing up without a father, he talked about knowing his children without being able to see them or even get letters from them. After my mother left the North Pole, they were completely cut off from each other.

I opened my mouth to reply to my father, but just then it started snowing. It wasn't normal snow. The flakes were black. They were mixed with soot. _The Fire Nation!_ I thought as I watched the black snow coming down.

"What's going on?" My father asked.

"It's soot mixed with snow." I explained. "It's the Fire Nation. They've closed in on the North Pole. There are a lot of them. Hundreds maybe even thousands of Fire Navy ships." I looked up at my dad. I could tell that he was trying to hide his fear. A loud drumming filled the air. It was the emergency alarm. "We need to get to Chief Arnook's palace!"

When we reached the palace, my father made his way over to a group of warriors. I walked over to Aang, Katara and Sokka. Aang and Katara looked edgy and nervous. Sokka just looked depressed.

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe. But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the ocean! Spirit of the moon! Be with us!" Chief Arnook's voice rang throughout the chamber as he delivered his speech. It was motivating. I hoped that my father would not be one of those faces. I had only just got him back. "I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission."

"Count me in!" Sokka stood to his feet.

"Sokka!" Katara and I cried. I stood up and put my hand on Sokka's shoulder, but he shrugged me off. _That's the first time he's ever ignored me…_ I thought sadly.

"Be warned. Many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark if you accept the task." Arnook finished. I watched Sokka walk through the crowd to receive Arnook's mark. I almost cried, even though I knew Sokka that was going to return alive. I noticed tears slide down Yue's cheeks as Sokka walked away.

Ryuu's POV:

"We will be landing soon. Do you have a plan?" Iroh whispered to Zuko as soon as he was sure that no guards were around to see or hear us.

"I'm working on it uncle." Zuko said.

"Really? I thought you told me you were going to wing it." I piped up. "Oh, did you bring me that jasmine tea I asked for?" Iroh nodded and pulled a cup of tea out of his robes. I didn't know what disturbed me more; the fact that the tea hadn't spilled or the fact that I was drinking tea that was in an old man's robe. I drank it anyway. "Thanks, General Iroh."

Tikaani's POV:

We stood on the icy wall of the North Pole. I could see a wisp of smoke on the far-off horizon. The Fire Nation would be here any second. With Katara, Sokka and Aang by my side I patiently waited for the first fireball to strike the wall. An explosion shouted and the fireball approached. It was approaching too fast for me to react. The fireball made contact with the wall. It sent Katara and I flying.

I was buried under a pile of snow, but I quickly waterbended myself out. I looked around to make sure the others were okay. Sokka and Katara were fine, and Aang had flown off on Appa to take care of the ships. A little ways away I saw my dad block some fireballs with waterbending to protect the civilians' houses.

"Stop those fireballs!" Master Pakku ordered. Katara and I managed to stop a couple, but soon the fireballs stopped coming. The Fire Navy ships had anchored. I sighed. _They've stopped… For now..._ Katara and I made our way back into the city where we ran into Yue.

"They've stopped firing." She explained. _Really? I thought they were still shooting at us!_ I thought sarcastically.

"Aang!" Katara cried. She pointed as Appa flew towards the city and landed in front of us. He slowly slid off his bison and sat on the freezing cold ground.

"I can't do it! I can't do it…" Aang moaned. "I must have taken out about a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them. I can't fight them all"

"But you have too!" Yue protested. "You're the avatar!"

"I'm just one kid…" Aang muttered, burying his face into his sleeves. Katara walked over to comfort him and so did I. I tried to imagine the pressure of having everyone in the world relying on me. I couldn't do it. _It must be hard._ I thought.

Ryuu's POV:

"You're fishing for an octopus, my nephew. You need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape." Iroh advised as I followed him into the room where Zuko was departing from. Iroh told me that I had to go with Zuko. I had to make sure that the stubborn prince didn't do anything too crazy.

"I don't need your wisdom right now, uncle." Zuko muttered.

"I'm sorry. I just nag you because… well… Ever since I lost my son…" Iroh trailed off. I looked at him sadly. _I didn't realize that Iroh had a son…_

"Uncle, you don't have to say it." Zuko said.

"I think of you as my own." Iroh finished. I could feel tears welling in my eyes.

"Aw… Here come the waterworks!" I cried.

"I know, uncle. We'll meet again." Zuko promised. Before he could object, Iroh pulled Zuko into a tight hug. He slowly pulled away from his uncle's iron grip. "After I have the avatar." He walked towards the two-person boat that he was leaving in.

"Wait!" Iroh stopped Zuko. "Ryuu is going with you." Zuko opened his mouth to object, but he closed it again. I assumed that he didn't want to argue with his uncle now, or maybe he thought it was pointless. As I walked passed Iroh, he whispered something to me. "Make sure he comes back alive." As we lowered ourselves, Iroh continued to nag Zuko. "Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life out there!" Iroh called.

"I will." Zuko replied.

"And put your hood up! Keep your ears warm!" Iroh nagged.

"I'll be fine!" Zuko responded, this time a little annoyed. As we sailed away, Iroh didn't say anything else. He watched us go with a sad look on his face. _I'll bring him back alive, Iroh. I promise._

Tikaani's POV:

"Our strength comes from the spirit of the moon. Our life comes from the spirit of the ocean. They work together to keep balance." Yue explained. Aang's eyes widened as an idea came to him.

"The spirits!" He exclaimed. "Maybe I can find them and get their help!"

"How are you going to do that?" Yue wondered aloud.

"Uh, hello!" I cheered in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "He's the avatar! You know he's supposed to be the great bridge between our world and the spirit world?"

"Aang can talk to the spirits!" Katara added.

"Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!" Yue chimed.

"Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" Aang burst out excitedly. Katara and Yue exchanged weird looks, but I acted really excited and crazy.

"Yeah! Like what if the spirits make this gigantic blue monster that has enough power to wipe out the entire Fire Nation Armada and save the North Pole!" I know I was technically telling them what was going to happen, but I couldn't help myself. "It would be all like _Boom!_ And _Swoosh!_ And then, just when the Fire Nation is thinking that things couldn't get any worse… _WAKAPOW!_" I did fake karate moves to represent the spirit magic. Aang and I were both getting weird looks from Princess Yue and Katara. "Or wisdom. That's good too."

"The only problem is, last time you got to the spirit world by accident. How are you going to get there this time?" Katara questioned quizzically.

"I have an idea. Follow me." Yue began to walk away. We all looked at one another before following curiously.

Ryuu's POV:

We took turns rowing the boat through the icy bliss. It was easy to see through the darkness when the icebergs around us were white. They seemed to light up the darkness and provide for easy night vision. We docked our two-person rowboat on an iceberg. Zuko looked up at the icy wall. A group of guards walked by along the wall.

"How are we supposed to get in? The place is crawling with Water Tribe warriors. And these turtle seals are driving me crazy!" I complained loudly. I was tempted to kick one of them, but that would give away our position. Zuko glared at me and told me to shush. He looked around our small iceberg.

"Where are they going?" He wondered aloud as he walked over to a hole in the ice that the turtle seals were swimming into. "They're coming up for air somewhere." Zuko held his breath and prepared to jump into the pool. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him backwards.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked. "We have no idea where that tunnel leads to!" I really wanted to shout and wave my arms frantically, but I kept my voice low and my hand gestures at a minimum.

"This could be our only way into the city." Zuko stated. He leaped into the freezing cold water before I could object and I knew that I'd have no choice but to follow him if I wanted to fulfill my promise to Iroh. I held my breath.

The ice-cold tongues of the freezing water licked at my skin. I felt my whole body go numb a second after submersion. The depths and darkness of the water threatened to freeze my blood and chill my bones. As we swam through the deadly ice I fought the urge to take in a breath and forced the panic away. It is imperative to remain calm in these situations. Finally, my head broke the surface and I sucked up as much air as I possible could. I puffed fire out of my mouth. And ignored the annoying barks of the turtle seals around me.

"Be quiet!" Zuko sneered, getting up. The turtle seals stopped barking and I stood up too. I began to try drying myself off using my flames. Zuko walked through the herd of turtle seals, towards another water hole. Water was pouring from the ceiling of the cave, so we would have to climb the wall and fight the current in order to get to it.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I complained as Zuko prepared to continue.

"Grow a spine!" He snapped before he started climbing the wall. I held my breath and fought the current to the best of my ability. I knew that if Zuko slipped, it would sweep both of us back into the cave with the turtle seals. Somehow, I managed to fight the biting cold. Finally, the tunnel we were in opened up into a large pool of water. There was no more current. Zuko and I swam to the surface. I was angered to see that we were still in a cave and there was barely enough room for both of our heads to stick out of the water. I took in as much air as I could; knowing that it would be short lived.

Zuko and I ducked back under the water and looked around. There seemed to be another underwater tunnel that led out of this place. I pointed towards it before I started swimming again. I went up the tunnel first. I knew how much endurance Zuko had. I was about to run out of endurance. I felt weak and short on air. I felt like I was going to pass out.

When I entered the tunnel, it seemed to curve upwards. I looked up and saw the surface of the water. I fought down a cry of glee and swam full steam ahead towards the surface. I was expecting to break the surface and take in air, but that wasn't quite what happened. Instead, my head struck something hard and everything around me fuzzed. I opened my mouth, trying to breath. Salt water rushed into my system. I fell backwards in slow motion. The world around me started getting dark. I tried to hold on, but before I could do anything, I plummeted into a world of blackness.

Tikaani's POV:

We all followed Yue and she led us to a circular door in the center of the city. Aang looked at it curiously.

"So is this the way to the spirit world?" Aang inquired. Yue giggled.

"No." She replied. "You'll have to get there on your own. But I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole." She opened the circular door. We all ducked through the door and gaped at the scene before us. Here, in the middle of an icy wilderness, was lake with an island in the middle. The island had _grass_ on it. I ran across the bridge that led across the lake and to the island.

"I never thought I'd actually miss the feeling of grass!" I exclaimed as I flopped onto the ground. I rolled around in the grass, pulling it out and throwing it in the air. When I got up, Yue and Katara were shooting me weird looks. I smiled manically. They rolled their eyes.

"Its so warm here! How is that possible?" Katara asked. Yue smiled.

"This is the center of all spiritual energy in our land." Yue explained. Aang nodded as he walked over to the Koi pond.

"You're right, Yue. I can feel… something. It's so… tranquil!" Aang finished. He sat on the ground in front of the koi pond in a meditating position.

Ryuu's POV:

The world was complete blackness. Not a sound broke the silence, not a color broke the monotony. Not a smell reached my nose, not a taste reached my tongue and my hands could find nothing but… Nothing. Everything was nothing and the darkness continued to encompassed me like a tightly tied rope from which there is no escape. Finally I saw something. It was a light on the distant horizon. I slowly walked toward the light. The light was getting bright, as if it was coming towards me while I was going towards it. White light had almost completely surrounded me, but suddenly, the darkness returned. Color came back to me and I blinked open my eyes.

"MmM?!" I tried to scream, but the lips pressed against mine muffled me. As soon as Zuko pulled away I dragged myself to the edge of the water pipe we were resting in and lost my dinner. I took water from the drain and gargled it before spitting it out. "Bleeding hog monkeys, what the bloody hell was that?" I spat, still trying to decontaminate myself. I had no idea what 'bloody hell' meant. I had just burst it out in the spur of the moment and I felt so dizzy and discombobulated.

"I just saved your life." Zuko sneered. "And I didn't enjoy it, either."

"Oh holy spirits…" I rubbed my head as I realized what had happened. "You saved my life!" I exclaimed. "There was a light. I was heading into the light, but you…" I trailed off, trying to fathom what had just happened. When I hit the ice, I knocked myself out and almost drowned. Zuko must have pulled me to the surface and… I shivered. _Not the way I want to remember my first kiss._ I thought bitterly. I gargled another mouthful of salty seawater. We sat in silence for a short while before Zuko finally spoke.

"Not a word about this to _anyone_." Zuko seethed. "Not even my uncle."

"Agreed." I promised, shuddering slightly as I realized that I would always remember this, no matter how hard I would try to forget.

Tikaani's POV:

"Why is he sitting like that?" Yue asked.

"He's meditation, trying to cross over into the spirit world. It takes all his concentration." Katara whispered.

"Is there anyway we can help?" Yue questioned. I sighed.

"Well he might actually be able to enter the spirit world if you two stopped talking. He can still hear every word you're saying, you know." I chastised. Yue and Katara both shut their yappers. "Thanks!" I looked back towards Aang. He was watching the koi fish circle each other. _Any minute now…_ Suddenly, his eyes and arrows started to glow.

"Is he okay?" Yue worried. She looked scared.

"He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world." Katara informed confidently.

"Maybe we should get some help!" She fretted.

"No." I stopped her. "Katara and I are perfectly capable of taking care of Aang on our own." I replied. _Ryuu and Zuko should be here any_-

"Well, aren't you big girls now." A voice jeered. Katara and I turned our heads to come face to scar with Zuko and Ryuu.

"No." Katara stared as the two firebenders walked into the Oasis.

"Yes." Ryuu smiled deviously.

"Yue, go get help!" I ordered. She ran out of the oasis. I faced Ryuu and prepared for a fight.

Ryuu's POV:

"It's just me and you." I growled threateningly at the familiar Water Tribe girl. The other two were too busy fighting for them to notice my face off. Hopefully Zuko wouldn't be mad at me for not even trying to capture the avatar. Right now I needed to confront my own problems.

"I believe its 'you and I'!" She corrected before shooting a powerful blast of water at me. I flew through the air and hit the ground hard, but I managed to stand to my feet again.

"Who are you?" I asked as I kicked a fireball in her direction. She blocked it with a stream of water.

"My name is Tikaani. Does that ring a bell?" She asked bitterly. Something clicked in my head, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Yeah, that name sounded familiar. If only I could remember… _No. I must have heard someone mention is before. I do not know who this girl is. _I ignored her question and swiped my foot into the air to launch an arc of flames in her direction. She created a water whip and used it to fling me across the lake before freezing me in a block of ice.

"You little peasant!" I snarled. It felt good to call someone a peasant. _Now I know why that's Zhao's favorite insult!_ "You found yourself a master haven't you?" I took a deep breath and heated the air particles around me, causing the block of ice I was trapped in to explode. The explosion sent me flying through the air, but I landed on my feet on the small island.

"As a matter of fact, I have." Tikaani answered my hypothetical question before shooting some ice spears at me. I rolled out of the way and swiped some fireballs at her. She blocked each and every one of them. "And he's our-"

"Shut up already!" I grunted in anger before charging a fireball and sending it her way. She created a huge wave of water to block it. After the fire was extinguished, she made the wave wash over me. I closed my eyes tightly against the pounding of the waves. _I don't want to drown. I don't want to drown. I don't want to drown._ I thought to myself over and over again. I didn't open my eyes again until my head was clear of the water. I was frozen in a very tall pillar of ice. I hung my head in defeat. _I just got my butt served to me on a silver platter._

Suddenly I felt fire coursing through my veins. I lifted my head to see that the sun had risen. I took a deep breath and puffed smoke out of my nostrils to free myself from my icy prison. I landed on the ground at the same time Zuko did. In perfect sync we both gathered our strength and blasted fire at the two water tribe girls. They both bent water in front of them to protect themselves, but the impact of our flames was enough to knock them backwards.

"You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun." Zuko snickered. He picked up the boy. I was so tempted to take the girl with us. She knew my name. What else did she know about me? About my past? About my parents? "What are you doing?" Zuko asked when I tried to pick up the girl.

"You wouldn't understand." I huffed as I draped her over my shoulders. Zuko didn't say anything else as we headed away from the Northern Water Tribe. We trekked through the blizzard.


	16. Chapter 15: Ocean Spirits get POed

Ryuu's POV:

We trekked through the biting cold blizzard. The wind and snow fought us every step of the way. As if that wasn't enough, Tikaani seemed to be getting heavier with every step I took. I vaguely wondered if Aang was as heavy as Tikaani was. _He's definitely lighter than she is. She's almost the same size as me and he's just a kid. How come Zuko get's to carry the lightweight? _I thought bitterly. _Hey, it was your idea to bring her, numbskull! _I argued with myself inside my head. _Pea brain! Bone head!_ I vaguely wondered if I was going insane.

I heard a loud _crack_ as Zuko walked across the ice. The snow started to give way underneath us and we ran as fast as we could. The faster we ran, the more the ice shattered. Zuko and I leaped. We tumbled through the snow. Luckily we had given ourselves enough momentum to land on solid snow. Zuko and I panted. _I can't go on like this…Not for much longer, anyway…_

"Shelter!" Zuko called as he pointed towards a cave. I looked at it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. We trudged over to the cave and dropped our burdens. Zuko used his rope to tie Aang's hands together. I tied Tikaani's.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"Wait." Zuko responded flatly. I sighed. Zuko lit a fire and I huddled by it, raising my body heat as high as I could. We sat in silence for a long time. I wondered if Zuko still knew I was there, because that was when he started talking to himself. "I finally have you, but I can't get you home because of this blizzard. There's always something. Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck, though. I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am." Zuko finished.

"I…" I tried to think of something to say. This was just making me sad. "I didn't know you had a sister." I know it was pathetic, but it was the only thing I could come up with, okay? Zuko turned his head towards me slowly. He sighed.

"Her name is Azula." Zuko spat the name. Lightning flashed across my vision when he said that name. Every hair on my spine stood on end. The cave around me faded and suddenly I was facing a teenage girl with black hair and golden eyes.

"Tikaani, run! I'll hold her off!" I shouted at the girl who was standing behind me. She had eyes the color of the sea, but she was wearing firebender clothing.

"I won't leave you, Ryuu!" She refused.

"Go! NOW!" I yelled as loud as I could. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn't want to run, but she did. I turned around to face Azula, the firebending prodigy, the assassin sent to get rid of us.

She pointed two fingers towards me. It all happened as fast as the lightning she shot from her fingers and I didn't have enough time to dodge. The lightning hit me in the center of the forehead and the world disappeared. Everything went blank. I opened my eyes to find myself back in the cave.

"It was Azula." My heart was beating out of my chest as the realization came to me. _She knocked me out. She put me out to sea on an ice floe. Then Iroh and Zuko found me. It was Azula._ "She did it."

"What? What did she do?" Zuko asked quizzically.

"She's the one who wiped my memory." I concluded. My hand went up to the scar on my forehead. "She was trying to kill me. I don't know why, but she was trying to kill me."

"I'm glad that you remember something." I jumped as Tikaani's voice echoed throughout the cave. I turned around to face her. She was still tied up, sitting against the wall of the cave comfortably. I sneered.

"You were there!" I ordered angrily. "Tell me what you know! How did you know my name?"

"How is she supposed to know?" Zuko interjected. I glared at him and opened my mouth to say something smart, but before I could, Tikaani spoke.

"Zuko!" She cheered. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" She smiled at him. I thought it was super creepy. _So we hunt her friend halfway across the world and looks happy to see us. That makes total and perfect sense. _I looked at Zuko. He seemed just as perplexed and creeped out as I did. I shook my head to focus. _I need to find out. This could be my only chance to find out about my past._

"Answer me!" I snapped. She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"You still don't get it do you?" She asked. I sneered.

"Don't get what?"

"You're supposed to figure it out on your own." She whispered. I could feel the smoke coming out of my ears as my rage reached a boiling point. I almost attacked her, but just then there was a flash of blue light. "Aang will be back any second." Almost as soon as she said it, the kid woke up. He struggled before sitting bolt upright.

"Welcome back." Zuko muttered as if he was coming back from a field trip.

"Good to be back." Aang replied. He took in a big breath of air and blew himself out of the cave. Zuko raced out after him, leaving me in the cave with the girl. She kicked me in the gut, causing me to double over in pain, before running out of the cave. _I forgot to tie her feet? Seriously?_ I thought as I regained myself. When I left the cave, I saw Zuko lying on the ground.

"Hey, this is some quality rope!" The water tribe boy mused as he cut Aang and Tikaani's ropes. I ran passed them and checked on Zuko. He was still breathing.

"We need to get to the oasis, the spirits are in trouble!" Aang exclaimed. He hopped on top of Appa. Tikaani had to climb up into the saddle. I looked down at Zuko. _There's no way I can carry him back to the oasis. I promised Iroh..._ I looked at the bison. They were just about to take off, but Aang hesitated.

"Wait!" I called. He turned around to look at me. "Please, you can't leave him here! He'll die!"

"No way!" The water tribe boy argued. I looked at Aang.

"Please," I pleaded, "I promised Iroh that I would bring him back alive. And he saved my life. Leave me here if you have to, but please…" I know I sounded pretty pitiful right then, but I had to beg. _When Ryuu makes a promise, he never breaks that promise._ I told myself. I searched Aang's eyes. Before I knew what happened, he leaped down, picked up Zuko, and then leaped onto the saddle. They were about to fly away again. "Wait, no!" I protested. "I was just kidding when I told you to leave me here!" I frantically climbed onto Appa's saddle.

"Yup, let's just bring the guys who are constantly trying to kill us." The water tribe boy said sarcastically.

"We don't try to _kill_ you." I said. "We just try to _capture_ you. It's a whole different thing entirely." I explained. Everyone glared at me. I ignored the looks and propped my head up against the saddle. "Ooo, this is comfy!" I cooed.

Tikaani's POV:

_Leave it to Ryuu to fall asleep in the middle of the most important parts._ I thought to myself, shaking my head. Suddenly, the moon turned pink and the sky turned red. It wasn't just the sky. Everything was the color of blood.

"I owe the moon spirit my life." Yue whispered. She then proceeded with the story. "When I was born, I was very sick and very week. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I were asleep, my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white. I opened my eyes and began to cry and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue; for the moon." Yue finished.

Ryuu's POV:

"I am a legend now. The Fire Nation will forever tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon." That voice. I shot straight up. _What the bleeding hog monkeys is wrong with the moon?_ I thought as I stared at the blood red moon. _And the sky… Oh, hog monkeys, that voice. Zhao? He's such an idiot._ I thought. "They will call me Zhao the conqueror. Zhao the moon slayer! Zhao the-"

"But kisser!" I added as I leaped down from the saddle. Zhao's eyes narrowed in rage. If looks could kill I'd drop dead.

"You're supposed to be dead!" I swear Zhao was about to blast my head off, but Aang's lemur jumped on his head and started playing with his face. "Get it off!" Zhao howled loudly. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. When the lemur flew off, Zhao looked at all of us. We were in a fighting stance, ready to hurt him.

"Don't bother." Zhao snickered. He lifted the bag and his fist.

"Zhao, don't!" Aang exclaimed, dropping his staff.

"Its my destiny to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe." Zhao muttered darkly. Even I knew how bad of an idea that was.

"Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe." Aang protested. "It will hurt everyone. Including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world." As he went on, I noticed that Zhao wasn't going to change his mind.

"He is right, Zhao." A familiar voice echoed.

"Iroh!" I cheered happily.

"Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao asked, glaring at General Iroh.

"I'm no traitor, Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance." Iroh explained. Zhao didn't even loosen his grip. Iroh's face clouded with rage. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you, _TENFOLD_!" Iroh threatened. I knew he was going to do it, too. "Let it go! _NOW_!" He ordered angrily. I watched in shock as Zhao dropped to his knees and released the fish back into the pond. The two fish began to circle one another and the sky returned to normal.

I never expected Zhao to release the spirit. I realized too late that Zhao _wasn't_ going to let it go. As soon as the spirit was in the water, his face contorted in rage. He unleashed a powerful blast of fire at the fish in the water. The sky went black, the moon turned gray. The world darkened. My eyes widened, and then narrowed. Iroh and I both bombarded Zhao with a barrage of fireballs. We easily knocked out all his guards. I saw him run away.

"I'm going after Zhao!" I spat before chasing the ! #$%^&amp;* admiral.

Tikaani's POV:

We all rushed over to crowd around the pool. Iroh slowly pulled the fish out of the water, but the burn had already taken its toll. Tui was dead.

"There's no hope now…" Yue whispered painfully. "Its over."

"No." Aang's arrows, eyes and mouth began to glow as he entered the avatar state. "It's not over." He entered the water and La circled him slowly. La began to glow too and suddenly, Aang plummeted into the depths of the water. Everything began to glow with a bright blue light. A huge ocean monster arose from the tiny koi pool, Aang at its center. The monster wreaked havoc on the Fire Nation; it destroyed every Fire Nation thing in its path. We waited by the pool while Aang dealt with the Fire Nation. Iroh slowly placed Tui's body back into the pool of the spirit oasis.

"It's too late." Katara muttered sadly. "It's dead." Iroh looked down before turning to Sokka and Yue.

"You have been touched by the moon spirit. Some of its life is in you." Iroh mused as he stared at Yue. I could feel the tears coming, but blocked them off.

"Yes. You're right. It gave me life. Maybe I can give it back." Yue stated bravely. She stood up and started walking towards Tui's body. Sokka tried to stop her. He grabbed hold of her hand and tried to pull her back.

"No! You don't have to do that!" He protested.

"It's my duty Sokka." Yue replied evenly. Sokka didn't let go of her.

"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!" I knew that this wasn't the real reason Sokka was trying to stop Yue. Tears welled up, threatening to fall.

"I have to do this." She said. She slowly pulled away from Sokka and stepped towards the koi fish's body. She placed her hands on the fish. It began to glow with a bright light and Yue closed her eyes for the last time. She fell towards the ground.

"No!" Sokka cried as he caught Yue's body. He looked at her limp lifeless form and closed his eyes sadly. "She's gone…" He breathed under his breath. "She's gone." He said it louder this time in a lost voice. He hugged Yue's body, but nothing could bring her back now. Soon, her body completely faded from Sokka's arms. Iroh, Sokka and Katara stared in shock. Tui's body slowly started to grow Iroh placed him back into the pool. Sokka watched the fish swim around. Soon the pool started glowing white. Yue's spirit rose from the water.

"Goodbye, Sokka. I'll always be with you." Yue whispered. She pulled Sokka in and the two of them kissed before she faded away. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing now. I didn't even realize when I grabbed hold of Iroh's sleeve and started blowing into it.

"Uh… Sorry…" I sniffled, feeling embarrassed. I looked up at the sky. _The moon is back._

Ryuu's POV:

I was following Zhao through the city when a fireball came out of nowhere. I looked up to see Zuko standing on a platform above us.

"You're alive?" Zhao gasped.

"You tried to have me killed!" Zuko shouted. He blasted a fireball at Zhao. I happily joined in. Zhao dodged our attacks.

"Yes I did. You two… You're the Blue Spirit and the Dragon Spirit." He growled, looking at us in turn. "Enemies of the Fire Nation. You freed the avatar."

"We had no choice!" I defended. Zuko and I both shot fire at him. He held up his hand to stop the fireballs easily.

"You could have chosen to accept your failures. Then at least you could have lived!" Zhao hollered as he blasted two powerful fireballs towards us. Zuko and I dove to either side to avoid Zhao's fireballs. We easily dodged all of his attacks until we saw an opening. Both of us blasted Zhao off the bridge. He landed on his back on another bridge below. He stared up at the sky in horror.

"It can't be!" I looked up at the sky to see what he was fussing about. The sky had returned to its original color. I watched as a great blue monster snatched Zhao off of the bridge.

"Take my hand!" Zuko reached out to Zhao. The Admiral reached for Zuko's hand. He was almost there, but at the last second, Zhao grew a nasty sneer and he drew back. The monster dragged him into the sea. Zuko and I watched as Zhao disappeared. We looked at each other.

"Let's go find Iroh." I whispered. _There goes one of the two people who can tell me about my parents..._

Tikaani's POV:

"I've decided to go to the South Pole. Some other benders and healers want to join me. It's time we helped rebuild our sister tribe." Master Pakku explained to Katara and I.

"What about Aang? He still needs to master waterbending." Katara worried.

"Well, then he better get used to calling you Master Katara and Master Tikaani." Pakku finished, smiling. I smirked. _If he learns from me, I am not going to try the positive reinforcement. _I thought to myself. I turned around to come face to face with my father. I hugged him.

"What about you, dad? What are you going to do?" I inquired eagerly.

"I'm going to take a group of waterbenders with me to go meet up with Hakoda." He explained. "Some of us want to help in the war efforts as well."

"I'm going to miss you." I said sorrowfully.

"I'll miss you too, Tikaani." Darek whispered.

Ryuu's POV:

We sailed away from the North Pole on a small and measly piece of wood.

"I'm surprised Prince Zuko. Surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the avatar." Iroh raised an eyebrow at Zuko.

"I'm tired." Prince Zuko stated simply.

"Then you should rest." Iroh advised. He placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "A man needs his rest." Zuko responded by lying down and closing his eyes. I continued to chatter and shake in the fetal position. Iroh looked at me. "Ryuu? Are you all right?" Iroh asked. I jumped and stared at him before staring at the ocean around us.

"I think I'm afraid of the ocean." I confessed through chattering teeth.

"It didn't seem to bother you before." Iroh stated, raising an eyebrow at me this time. I twitched.

"Bad experience. Almost drowned three times." I think I'm losing it guys.

"Maybe you should get some rest too." Iroh suggested. I nodded absent-mindedly. _Rest_. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Narrator's POV:

Far away in a flame lit war room, an angry Fire Lord was speaking with his daughter, the trained assassin.

"Iroh and Ryuu are traitors and your brother Zuko is a failure." He hissed over the crackling of the flames. "I have a task for you…"


	17. Chapter 16: Fire Daggers

Tikaani's POV:

"Tikaani, I want you to have this." My father took out an amulet with a vial of water. The cap was shaped like a crescent moon. Pakku had given Katara a similar amulet, but hers was purple. Mine was blue. "This amulet contains water from the spirit oasis. The water has special healing properties. It could come in handy." He explained. I smiled and hugged him.

"Thanks dad." I put the amulet around my neck. I joined the others on Appa as Pakku started instructing them.

"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu." Pakku instructed. "There, you will be safe to begin your earthbending training with King Bumi."

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang flicked Appa's reins and the bison lifted into the air.

"Say hi to gran-gran for me!" Katara called to Master Pakku.

"And say hi to dad for me!" Sokka added to my dad before we took off.

Ryuu's POV:

"This is what I've been missing." Iroh gave a happy sigh as the masseuses gave us massages. I breathed in and out slowly as I felt their relaxing hands rub my back. There were no words to describe the relaxation of the tense muscles on my back. "Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks with no food or water and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver could make one so tense?"

Yeah, that's right. We were stuck on that driftwood for three weeks. It was especially hard for me when every shift of the waves made me uneasy. At one point, Zuko and I had tried to resort to cannibalism and eat each other. Luckily, Iroh split us up before we caused any real damage to one another. I didn't get out completely unscathed, though. There was a bite-mark-shaped bruise on one of my shoulders. Everything I'd been through in the last couple of weeks had caused me to catch a deathly fear of the ocean.

"I see." Iroh's voice cut through my thoughts. I sat up, wondering what he meant. Then I noticed Zuko sulking by the entrance. "It's the anniversary, isn't it?"

"Three years ago today I was banished. I lost it all. I want it back." Zuko looked away. I stepped off my massage table and walked over to Zuko and Iroh. "I want the avatar, my honor, my throne… I want my father not to think I'm worthless."

"I'm sure he doesn't think you're worthless." I piped in. Zuko glared at me with venom in his eyes. "Why would he banish you if he didn't care?" I smiled, realizing too late that I'd said the wrong thing. Zuko stood up and stomped off angrily. "That came out wrong, didn't it?"

"Yes." Iroh nodded slowly. I sighed.

Tikaani's POV:

"Are you sure it's a good idea to stop at General Fong's fortress?" I chastised as we flew over the Earth Kingdom.

"Why wouldn't we?" Katara asked. "Master Pakku told us that General Fong would provide us with an escort to Omashu!"

"I just have a bad feeling about going to General Fong." I admitted. "We could just fly to Omashu ourselves, couldn't we?"

"Are you kidding?" Sokka intervened. "The towns between here and Omashu are almost all heavily guarded Fire Nation colonies!"

"Hey, my instincts just tell me that stopping by General Fong's is a bad idea." I muttered. _Oh jeez, I sound like Sokka!_

"Remember what happened when we followed Sokka's instincts in Jet's forest?" Aang piped up. "We walked straight into a Fire Nation campsite! I don't think we should trust our instincts anymore." I was opening my mouth to argue, but Sokka stopped me.

"Too late to argue now! There it is!" He pointed towards the white walled fortress with golden roofs. I sighed in annoyance. Fong greeted us when we landed.

"Welcome, avatar Aang! I am General Fong" He introduced himself before giving Aang a deep, respectful bow. "And welcome to all of you great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka, the mighty Katara and," I anxiously waited for the title that Fong would give me, "Tikaani."

"What? _Just_ Tikaani?" I scoffed. "What about 'amazing Tikaani' or 'awesome Tikaani?'" I suggested. General Fong gave me a dumbfounded look and shook his head. "Remarkable?" I tried. "Sensational? Spectacular? Stupendous?" I continued trying, but General Fong just shook his head. "Why don't I get an adjective?" I complained loudly.

"The truth is we couldn't find a word great enough to describe you." General Fong admitted. I blinked.

"Really? I think I know of a word that can describe me…" I paused for dramatic effect. "SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!" I exclaimed in the tune of the song. Just as I sung it, fireworks went off over our heads.

"And you had a bad feeling about coming here!" Sokka rolled his eyes. I glared at him. As soon as the fireworks were over, General Fong rushed us to his war room.

"Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at how you singlehandedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole." General Fong mused. I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn't seem to notice me at all. "I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility.

"I try not to think about it too much." Aang confessed modestly.

"Avatar," General Fong paused and smiled, "You're ready to face the Fire Lord now." I wanted to punch the grin off his face.

"What? No I'm not!" Aang protested.

"Aang still needs to master all four elements!" Katara agreed with Aang.

"Why? With the kind of power he possesses, power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a number of minutes, he could defeat the Fire Lord now!"

"He can only do that in the avatar state." I argued.

"See, it's this special state where-" Aang began.

"I'm well aware!" Fong interrupted. "Your eyes and tattoos glow and you are able to summon unbelievable power. Without you, we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores, but with you leading the way as the ultimate weapon, we can cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation."

"Right, but I don't know how to get in or out of the avatar state. Much less what to do when I'm there." Aang told General Fong. I could tell that he didn't like the idea of going into the avatar state at all.

"So it's decided, then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the avatar state and then you'll face your destiny." Fong offered.

"No, nothing's decided. We already have a plan." Katara objected. "Aang's fulfilling his destiny his way!"

"Well while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on." Fong stated. "May I show you something?"

"No." I snapped. "We're leaving now to go to Omashu. I'm not staying here any longer." I turned around and stomped out of the room. No one followed me. I hopped on Appa. "Yip yip!" I flicked the reins. Appa didn't budge. "Ugh…" I complained, collapsing into Appa's saddle. I lie there all day. It was sunset when Sokka came out to get me.

"It's going to get dark soon." Sokka said awkwardly.

"So?" I didn't move. I didn't even look up.

"You should come inside." He told me. I propped myself up on one elbow.

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's too cold out." Sokka worried. _Seriously? Yue turned into the moon three weeks ago and he's already being over-protective of me?_

"The cold never bother me anyway." I shrugged. I pulled some water out of the molecules in the air and started playing with it.

"How did you do that?" Sokka asked. I realized that to him it would seem as if I had pulled the water out of thin air.

"There are water molecules in the air. You can't see them, just like you can't see the water in clouds." I explained. Sokka seemed amazed.

"My sister doesn't even know how to do that!" He exclaimed. "You really are amazing or supercalifrajellyisitc- or whatever you said."

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that." Sokka smiled. I smiled. _Is he blushing?_ I wondered, but the sun had set and it was too dark to tell. _Oh crap, I'm encouraging him, aren't I?_

"It's getting late." I yawned. "I should be getting some sleep." I found my sleeping bag and laid it out on Appa's saddle.

"You're not sleeping inside?" Sokka inquired neurotically.

"Nope. I'm not leaving this saddle until we're away from General Fong's fortress. I have everything I need up here. A sleeping bag, a pillow and food." I nodded to myself slowly.

"What about the bathroom?" Sokka inquired. I glared at him.

"Oh my gosh, Sokka, you can't just go around asking people about the _bathroom_!" I hollered indignantly. "That is so wrong, immature and inappropriate!"

"Sorry." Sokka apologized quickly. "Well have fun sleeping outside!" He called as he walked off. I chuckled and shook my head before curling up in my warm sleeping bag and falling asleep.

Ryuu's POV:

"Look at these magnificent shells!" Iroh exclaimed as he dumped the bag of colorful glass-like ocean trinkets onto the table. My pupils dilated and sparkled.

"Ooo, so pretty!" I exclaimed, rushing forward to examine the shells.

"I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come!" Iroh cheered.

"I second that!" I agreed as I picked up some of the shells to examine them.

"We don't need anymore useless things! You forget we have to carry everything ourselves now!" Zuko pointed out. I nodded slowly.

"It seems that such a sad fact is so true." I shook my head sadly as I placed some of the shells back onto the tabletop.

"Hello, brother. Uncle. Peasant." A voice echoed throughout the room. I looked toward the doorway to see Azula standing there. _Monkey feathers, it's that crazy hog monkey who tried to kill me!_ I hid behind Iroh, even though she already knew I was there.

"What are you doing here?" Zuko growled the question.

"In my country, we exchange a pleasant hello before asking questions. Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?" Azula sneered.

"Zuzu?" I snorted, giving away my already known position.

"Don't call me that!" Zuko snapped.

"To what do we owe this honor?" Iroh asked Princess Azula, ignoring Zuko's outburst.

"Hm… Must be a family trait. Both of you so quick to get to the point." Azula smashed the shell she was holding with her sharpened fingernails. I shivered. _Those could claw someone's eye out!_ "I've come with a message from home. Father's changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him. Treacherous plots. Family are the only ones you can really trust. Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home." Azula paused, waiting for an answer. I looked from Zuko to Iroh, and then back again. Neither of them said anything. "Did you hear me? You should be happy, excited, grateful!" Zuko walked over to the window and looked out. "I just gave you great news."

"I'm sure you're brother simply needs a moment-" Iroh began.

"Don't interrupt, uncle!" Azula snapped with the fierceness of a tigerdillo. If I wasn't already an enemy of hers, I was then. No one snaps at the esteemed General Iroh! "I still haven't heard my thank you. I'm not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way."

"Father regrets? He… wants me back?" Zuko asked in disbelief. The two things seemed unfathomable to him. _Please say no!_

"I can see you need time to take this in." Azula stated. "I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening." She began to walk away, but I stopped her.

"Wait, what about me?" I asked worriedly, forgetting my fear of Azula. Without Iroh and Zuko, I would have nowhere to stay, no one to turn to. Even though I hated Azula, even though I was confused as to why she'd tried to kill me, I needed somewhere.

"You're free to join us. I know you've recently lost you're memory, haven't you?" She inquired. I felt a little uneasy, but I nodded anyways. I wanted to ask how she knew, but she walked out before I could. I turned back to Zuko and Iroh. Both of them seemed confused, even lost. I vaguely wondered if we should trust Azula. I pushed my uneasy feelings down. _What could she possible gain by tricking us?_

Tikaani's POV:

I don't know why I didn't realize this sooner, but Appa's saddle is very boring. The only thing that there is to do on there is shuffle through luggage. I found an extra bag of blubbered seal jerky from the North Pole in Sokka's stuff and helped myself. Afterwards, I decided to give up on staying in the saddle until we left. It wasn't just the boredom. I had to go really bad.

After relieving myself, I went to go watch Aang try to bring on avatar state. I went up to the place where Aang would drink the tea that made him hyper. I sat next to Sokka. "I thought you were going to stay in Appa's saddle until we left?"

"I had to go to the bathroom." I stated flatly. Sokka laughed.

"I warned you, didn't I?" I punched his shoulder. "Ow!" I smiled.

"This rare, chi-enhancing tea is a natural stimulant. In an ordinary warrior it improves strength and energy, tenfold. In you, it may induce the avatar state."

"Tenfold energy, huh?" Aang wondered aloud before taking a sip. His one eyebrow twitched. Suddenly he leaped out of his seat and hopped on an air scooter before riding around like a crazy person. "Is it working, is it working? I can't tell! Somebody tell me if I'm in the avatar state cause I don't have a good view of myself, am I talking too loud?" Aang was speaking super fast and in a high-pitched voice like a cartoon chipmunk.

"I guess he could talk the Fire Lord to death." Sokka muttered sarcastically. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. He smirked and I cursed the scriptwriters.

Ryuu's POV:

"We're going home, after three long years. It's unbelievable!" Zuko exclaimed. He was happier than I had ever seen him.

"It is unbelievable." Iroh agreed ominously. "I have never known my brother to regret anything."

"Did you listen to Azula? Father's realized how important family is to him! He cares about me." Zuko argued.

"I care about you!" Iroh pressed. "And if Ozai wants you back, I fear it may not be for the reasons you imagine."

"I agree with Iroh. You're father doesn't-" I was about to tell him that his father didn't care about him, but he interrupted me.

"You don't know how my father feels about me." Zuko snapped. "You don't know anything!"

"I know that Ozai didn't give you that scar because he loves you." I retorted. Zuko's face contorted in rage. In one second he slammed me into the wall and pinned me there. By two seconds he was holding a fire dagger next to my throat.

"Take that back!" He hollered angrily. I could feel the heat of the blow-torch-like flame close to my neck. There was only three ways out of this situation. One was to apologize. Another would be for Iroh to split this up. The third was for me to refuse to take it back and feel the blade of fire against my throat. Thankfully option two happened before I had to make a choice between one and three.

"I'm sure he meant that in our family, things are not always what they seem." Iroh reasoned peacefully. Zuko turned on him.

"I think you are exactly what you seem. A lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who's always been jealous of his brother!" Zuko jeered before storming off. Iroh sighed and closed both eyes sadly.

"I don't think he means that." I said as soon as he was out of earshot. "He's just upset and confused right now." Iroh didn't respond. I sighed and headed to my room. _I probably shouldn't have said what I said back there._

Tikaani's POV:

"Men, attack the avatar!" General Fong's order echoed throughout the fortress. I awakened from where I had been sleeping on Appa's saddle. I looked around to see that guards had completely surrounded Aang. They all attacked at once, shooting the coin-shaped rocks at Aang. _I tried to warn him, didn't I?_

"I'm not your enemy! I won't fight you!" Aang exclaimed. He dodged all of the earthbenders' attacks, but he didn't counter them. I jumped down from Appa's saddle and ran towards one of the guards on an ostrich horse. I kicked the guard off of the ostrich horse and hopped onto her saddle. Aang continued to dodge General Fong's attacks. I knocked some other guards off of their ostrich horse.

"You can't run forever!" General Fong cackled deviously.

"You can't fight forever!" Aang retorted. Aang dodged several more gigantic earth coins. Sokka and Katara rushed out of the building.

"What's going on?" Katara asked.

"The general's gone crazy! He's trying to force Aang into the avatar state!" Sokka explained. He whipped out his boomerang and took out a guard. Katara used her waterbending to cut some spears in half. I waterbended from atop my ostrich horse. It was surprisingly easy. After knocking out a couple guards, I watched as some of General Fong's other guards surround Katara.

"Maybe you can avoid me, but she can't." General Fong smirked as he looked at Katara. She tried to waterbend at him, but he turned it into mud by bending sand into it. He then made the ground below Katara turn to quicksand. She slowly sunk into it. She tried to get out.

"I can't move!" She panicked.

"Don't hurt her!" Aang ordered, sending a powerful blast of air towards General Fong. He created a wall of earth to block it, before making Katara sink deeper.

"Katara, no!" Sokka raced towards General Fong from atop another ostrich horse. General Fong tripped his horse and caused Sokka to get stuck in one of the earth coins.

"Stop this! You have to let her go!" Aang cried.

"You could save her if you were in the avatar state!" Fong argued.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Aang closed his eyes and tears formed.

"Aang, I'm sinking!" Katara sunk further into the ground.

"I don't see glowing!" Fong shouted. He began to close his fist. As he did so, Katara sank deeper into the quicksand. Only her head was sticking out now.

"Please!" She screamed

"You don't need to do this!" Aang fell onto his hands and knees as he begged Fong to stop. The general didn't give in.

"Apparently, I do." Fong finished. He closed his fist completely and Katara disappeared underground. Aang leaped forward to save her, but she was already gone. He sat for a few moments in sorrow before his eyes and arrows started to glow. Wind whirled around him and he rose into the air. "It worked! It worked!" Fong yelled to the skies excitedly. "Avatar Aang! Can you hear me?" General Fong shouted over the wind. "You're friend is safe!" He brought Katara to the surface, but Aang was still in the avatar state. He blasted General Fong backwards with a powerful gust of air. He created a huge tornado and floated above the fortress. The earth shook and the ground shattered. The houses were destroyed and the fortress shook violently.

When the damage had been done, Aang left the avatar state. He stared around sadly at all of the broken homes and the shattered ground. Katara rushed over to him and hugged him.

"I'm sorry Katara." Aang apologized. "I hope you never have to see me like that again."

"Ha! Are you joking? That was almost perfect!" General Fong cooed. "We just have to find out a way to control you when you're like that!"

"You're out of your mind!" Aang criticized.

"I guess we'll figure it out on the way to the Fire Nation." Fong concluded. Before he could go ahead with his plan, Sokka came up behind him and knocked him on the head. Fong collapsed, unconscious.

"Anybody got a problem with that?" Sokka asked. All of the guards shook their heads.

"Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" One guard asked. I sneered.

"No! Everyone get on Appa, before the crazy man wakes up!" I instructed. One of the guards tried to climb into Appa's saddle, but I pushed him down. "Nice try." And with that, we flew away from General Fong's fortress. "I told you all that this was a bad idea in the first place, but does anyone _ever_ listen to Tikaani? No!"

Ryuu's POV:

"Wait!" Iroh called after Zuko. "Don't leave without us!" The sight of the ocean in the distance made me shiver, but I forced myself to remain calm. I couldn't let my fears rule my life. Plus I had nowhere else to go and I hate being alone.

"Uncle! You changed your mind!" Zuko smiled at his uncle. He glared at me. "Does he have to come too?" He growled. Iroh laughed.

"Family sticks together, right? We're the only family Ryuu has!" Iroh pointed out. I looked at him, surprised and grateful. _He considers me family? I'm touched!_

"You might consider him family, but I don't." Zuko sneered. Without another word he walked towards Azula's ship. Iroh and I followed. I noticed that Iroh seemed very skeptical of Azula's ship. He was eying the guards warily as we were walked towards the ship. I noted how strange it was that we were all flanked on either side by a row of guards.

"Brother, uncle, peasant! Welcome!" Azula purred as we drew nearer to the walkway that led onto the ship. The three of us bowed deeply. "I'm so glad you decided to come."

"Are we ready to depart, your highness?" The captain asked.

"Set our course for home, captain." Azula ordered.

"Home…" Zuko seemed to taste the word on his tongue.

"You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners home!" The captain called. We stopped in our tracks. "Your highness… I…" He had realized his mistake too late. Immediately, the guards rushed towards us. Iroh and I took them on, kicking most of them into the ocean. Zuko flipped the captain into the salty seawater before stomping towards Azula.

"You lied to me!" He accused angrily.

"Like I've never done that before." She replied smugly. She stepped back and two guards sent two fireballs towards Zuko. He swiped the fireballs aside and knocked the guards off the ship. He began to walk towards Azula slowly.

"Zuko! Let's go!" Iroh suggested loudly. We were still trying to take out all the guards that had flanked us to the ship.

"I'll get Zuko!" I exclaimed. I ran up the ramp and onto the deck, where Zuko was slashing fire daggers towards Azula. He was thrashing. He wasn't thinking about his movements, which made it very easy for Azula to dodge his attacks.

"You know father blames uncle and your peasant friend for the loss at the North Pole. And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the avatar. Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?" Azula taunted. Zuko grunted in anger before charging at her, fire daggers at the ready. He slashed and thrashed, but Azula dodged everything he threw at her. Azula swiped her arm and three of her fingernails scratched across Zuko's forehead. Blood trickled from the wound. _Okay, that's it!_

I created a fire dagger and chucked it towards her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she bent over backwards to avoid it. The flying fire dagger whizzed by her head, only a centimeter above her nose. She looked shocked, but not scared. I took the moment and charged towards her, fire daggers at the ready. Azula easily swiped me backwards. I skidded across the deck of the ship. When I looked up, Azula's fingers were crackling with lightning. For a second, I thought I was going to have a second memory wipe. Suddenly, Iroh jumped in front of her and grabbed one of her fingers before pointing it toward a nearby mountain. Lightning shot out of his hand and the disaster was prevented.

When the danger was gone, Iroh flipped Azula overboard. The three of us ran away from the ship as fast as we could, but we didn't stop there. We ran passed the village and into the forest. The three of us collapsed to our knees by a river in the middle of the woods.

"I think we're safe here." Iroh panted. I took in as much air as I could. Zuko pulled a knife out of his robe. He held it up and examined it before cutting off his ponytail. He handed the knife to me. I read the inscription. _Never give up without a fight. _I cut off the neat bun on top of my head. Iroh cut his bun too. The three of us dropped our hair into the river and watched them float away.

_Now begins our journey as fugitives…_ I thought sadly.


	18. Chapter 17: First Kiss

Tikaani's POV:

"You guys are going to be done soon, right? We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to Omashu today." Sokka worried as he floated around in the water in nothing but his under garments. I raised an eyebrow.

"What, like you're ready to go now, naked guy?" Katara judged.

"I can be ready in two minutes. Seriously, whenever." Sokka muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Well while you waste your time, we're actually trying to get something accomplished. Aang needs to work on his waterbending." I chastised.

"So, you were showing me the octopus form." Aang said to Katara. I butted in before they could make any lovey-dovey transactions.

"It goes like this!" I demonstrated by the eight water whips that were connected at the base to form the octopus. I picked Aang, Katara and Sokka up by their feet before dropping them into the water. Afterwards, they all complained loudly about my unnecessary roughness. I snickered. "Now you try!" Aang was about to try the octopus, but just then, we all heard music in the distance. A group of people walked over the hill, singing.

"Don't fall in love with the traveling boy. He'll leave you broken, broken hearted!" The leader of the group stopped to examine us. "Hey, river people!" He exclaimed.

"We're not river people." I objected.

"You're not? Well, then what kind of people are you?" He asked.

"Just… People." Aang replied.

"Ain't we all, brother?" He responded.

"Who are you?" Sokka inquired, narrowing his at the singers.

"I'm Chong. This is my wife, Lily. We're nomads. Happy to go wherever the wind takes us!" Chong exclaimed smiling a goofy smile before jamming out on his pipa.

"You guys are nomads? That's great, I'm a nomad!" Aang exclaimed.

"Hey, me too!" Chong smiled obliviously.

"I know. You just said that." Aang informed uneasily.

"Oh…" Chong felt the back of his head awkwardly. He looked at Sokka. "Nice underwear." Sokka responded by putting Momo in front of his lower body and hiding behind Appa to change.

Ryuu's POV:

Iroh breathed in and out slowly as he examined the flower in front of him. I raised an eyebrow. I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but I would never question the great General Iroh. A couple of bushes shook nearby and Zuko emerged.

"I couldn't find anything to eat. I can't live like this! I wasn't meant to be a fugitive! This is impossible!" Zuko cried, lifting his fists to the skies.

"Preach, Zuko… Preach." I nodded slowly in agreement. Zuko narrowed his eyes at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then Iroh took a deep sniff of the flower and Zuko gave him an odd look.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" He asked in annoyance.

"You are looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking!" Iroh dreamed. He looked up at the sky like a crushing schoolgirl. "That, or it's the white jade bush, which is poisonous." His look suddenly turned dark.

"We need food, not tea." Zuko snapped. "I'm going fishing!" He stormed off.

"Hm…" Iroh scratched his growing beard. "Delectable tea, or deadly poison?"

"Dude! Don't just sit there and wonder. Make some tea and let's try it!" I urged. Iroh pulled out his teapot and began to brew it.

"I'm going to try it first!" I exclaimed.

"No. I should make sure its not deadly poison before you drink it." Iroh reasoned. I shook my head.

"You're life is more valuable than mine. You've accomplished so many great things." I argued.

"You are younger. You're life is much more valuable because of the great things you _could_ do." Iroh pressed.

"Wait!" I held up my hand to stop him. "I've had an epiphany! We could both drink the tea _at the same time_!" I smiled. Iroh nodded. He poured us both some tea and we both took a sip.

Tikaani's POV:

"O-ma-shu." Sokka pressed as the singing nomads tried to suggest different destinations for us to travel to.

"I think Sokka's right. We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn how to chuck rocks at people." I agreed. That wasn't the only reason. One of the singing nomads had just finished braiding my hair. I _hated_ having my hair done. I liked my hair flowing wild and free. Not _tangled_ like a couple of intertwined vines.

"Well it sounds like you're headed to Omashu." Chong mused. Sokka face palmed and I shared his feeling of annoyance. "There's an old story about a secret pass, right through the mountains." Chong informed. Aang looked amazed.

"Is this real or a legend?" Katara inquired skeptically.

"Oh, it's a real legend. And it's as old as earthbending itself." Chong began to strum his pipa. "Two lovers, forbidden from one another, a war divides their people and a mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together- yeah, uh, I forget the next couple lines, but then it goes- SECRET TUNNEL, SECRET TUNNEL, through the mountains, SECRET, SECRET, SECRET, SECRET TUNNEL, yeah!" I sung along as Chong sang. Sokka raised an eyebrow at me.

"What? I heard it on my way to the South Pole, mister judge-y pants." I justified my actions. All the nomads started clapping.

"I think we'll just stick with flying." Sokka told the nomads. "We've-"

"No! I want to go through the secret tunnel!" I complained loudly. Sokka gave me a flat look as if he was about to say no. Then I flashed him some puppy eyes and tried to look adorable, which wasn't very hard. Sokka sighed painfully.

"Fine, we'll go through the secret tunnel." Sokka caved in, but he wasn't happy about it. I let out a happy squeal and hugged Sokka before dancing towards the entrance to the secret tunnel. I looked back briefly. Sokka was standing there with wide eyes, blushing hard.

"How far are we from the tunnel?" Sokka asked after he had regained himself.

"Actually, its not just _one_ tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole _labyrinth_." Chong explained, making motions with his fingers before smiling. Sokka stopped and grabbed his head as if he was having a bad migraine.

"Labyrinth?" He asked in disbelief.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." Chong smiled. Sokka looked doubtful.

"All you need to do is trust in love." Lily explained. "According to the curse."

"Curse?" Sokka complained loudly after having an odd spasm. We continued walking. Finally, we reached the entrance to the secret tunnel.

"Hey, we're here!" Chong exclaimed. His voice echoed through the tunnels as he stood at the entrance to the labyrinth.

"What exactly is this curse?" Sokka inquired.

"The curse says that only those that trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise you'll be trapped in them forever." Chong informed.

"And die." Lily added.

"Oh, yeah, and die. Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!" Chong cheered. He strummed his pipa and sang it as loud as he could. "AND DIE!"

"That's it! There's no way we're go through some cursed hole!" Sokka whined lousily. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hey, someone's making a big campfire!" Moku cried, pointing towards a wisp of smoke in the distance.

"That's not a campfire. That's the Fire Nation." I declared. "Everyone into the cave! All we need to do to get through is trust in love." Even Appa followed, though he did so reluctantly. As soon as we entered, the Fire Nation caused a landslide that blocked the entrance to the cave. We were trapped.

Ryuu's POV:

"Zuko, remember that plant we thought might be tea?" I asked as I heard footsteps behind us. The footsteps stopped.

"You didn't…" Zuko trailed off, not wanting to believe that we would take such a risk for a cup of tea.

"We did. And it wasn't." Iroh and I both turned around. We were both puffy in the face and covered with itchy rashes. Zuko leaped backwards with terror in his good eye. "When the rash spreads to our throats, we will stop breathing." Iroh explained. "But look what I found! These are pakui, known to cure the poison from the white jade plant. That, or makaola berries that cause blindness." Zuko swiped the branch out of Iroh's hand and chucked it.

"We're not taking any more chances with these plants!" Zuko shouted. "We need to get help."

"Yeah, you do need help!" I chastised. Zuko ignored me.

"But where are we going to go? We are enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives of the Fire Nation." Iroh pointed out.

"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed." Zuko stated.

"Yeah, but if the Fire Nation finds us, they'll give us to Azula." I reasoned.

"Earth Kingdom it is." Iroh and Zuko said. I nodded. We began walking in the direction of the nearest Earth Kingdom town. We walked into the infirmary, where this pretty girl began to treat our rashes.

"You two must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the white jade, much less to make it into tea and drink it." She explained. I saw an opportunity and I took it.

"Well when I see something pretty, I just can't help myself." I snickered. She didn't seem to pick up the fact that I was flirting with her.

"So where are you traveling from?" She asked.

"Yes we're travelers." Zuko stated awkwardly. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have names?" She asked.

"Names? Of course we have names!" Zuko's eyes wandered around the room as he tried to think of a name for himself. "I'm… Lee! And this is my uncle, uh… Mushi." He smiled.

"I'm his cousin, Shen." I piped up before he could give me a stupid name. "Oh, and he's named after his father, so we just call him junior." I gave Zuko an evil smile and he started putting his finger across his throat to tell me to shut up. He stopped when she turned around.

"Mushi, Shen, and Junior, huh? My name is Song." She introduced herself.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." I flirted. She blushed. _Score!_

"You should come for dinner at my place." Song smiled. _Double score!_

"Sorry, but we should be moving on." Zuko rejected her offer without a second thought. I narrowed my eyes at him. _He has to ruin every chance I have with a girl?_

"That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck." She sighed.

"Where do you live exactly?" Iroh asked. _Thanks for the save Iroh! _I thought excitedly. _Best day ever!_

Tikaani's POV:

Appa pawed uneasily at the sealed entrance. He roared loudly.

"It's okay, Appa. We'll be fine. I hope." Katara muttered.

"We will be fine." Sokka agreed. "All we need is a plan. Chong, how long do those torches last?"

"Uh, about two hours each." He answered.

"And we have five torches, so that's ten hours." Lily explained, lighting all of the other torches.

"It doesn't work like that if you light them all at the same time!" Sokka growled as he threw the torches on the ground and stepped on them to put them out.

"Oh, right…" Lily nodded to herself. Sokka sighed.

"I'm going to make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been. Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through." Sokka informed. We were starting to walk down one of the tunnels when I had an idea.

"We should spread the torches, just in case we get split up." I commented. I walked over and took a torch from Chong. We followed the caves and Sokka's maps for a long time. Eventually, I was fed up.

"This is the tenth dead end you've led us to!" I hollered at Sokka.

"This doesn't make any sense, we already came through this way." Sokka claimed. "There's only one explanation. The tunnels are changing." As soon as he made the conclusion, the cave shook. Chong began to freak out about the changing tunnels, but Katara shushed him.

"Everyone be quiet! Listen!" Katara urged. Everyone quieted down. Strange, ghostly noises echoed throughout the tunnels. Suddenly, a wolf bat flew out of the darkness. Sokka brandished his torch in the air, trying to scare the creature. As the creature flew by, it knocked the torch out of Sokka's hand and towards Appa. The flying bison galloped around in circles. He crashed into several walls.

_This isn't right!_ I thought as I looked around. _Katara is supposed to be standing here and Aang is supposed to save her!_ I thought, but when I looked, Katara and Aang were in complete safety on the other side of the tunnel. I looked up to see the ceiling above me crumbling. Rocks were falling towards me. I covered my eyes, unwilling to see my bitter end.

"Tikaani!" A shrill scream split the air. I looked up to see Sokka charging towards me. He crashed into me and we skidded across the floor of the cave. I sat up and looked around. I was able to see by the light of the torch that was lying a few feet away. Sokka and I were completely cut off from the others. We didn't even have Appa to keep us company. The realization hit me a little too late.

_I'm alone with Sokka in the Cave of Two Lovers. _I thought to myself. In the actual episode, Katara and Aang had gotten trapped together, with Appa, respectively. They had kissed in the darkness of the tunnel. _I'm going to have to kiss Sokka._

Ryuu's POV:

"My daughter tells me you're refugees." Song's mother made conversation as she set the roast duck on the table. "We were once refugees ourselves."

"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father." Song explained.

"I haven't seen my father in many years." Zuko grumbled sadly.

"Oh… Is he fighting in the war?" Song asked. Zuko paused for a long while before nodding. I looked away sadly, feeling left out.

"I don't even know my father." I whispered miserably. "A few months ago, I was involved in an accident. I lost all of my memory, except for my name." I could feel my eyes getting the slightest bit watery. "I'm sorry." I apologized before getting up from the table and walking outside. I sat on the porch in a meditation-like pose and stared at the stars. _I wish I could remember more…_

"Can I join you?" I jumped as Song walked out of the house. I nodded. She walked over and sat down next to me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"It's all right." I sighed. "I have my uncle and cousin to look out for me. I still wish I knew my father, though. I wish I could remember something about my past."

"So you don't know anything?" She wondered aloud.

"I know that I didn't get this scar from a waterbender." I sneered.

"The Fire Nation has hurt you." Song whispered. I looked at her. She reached her hand out to touch the scar on my forehead. I turned away from her. "Its okay. They've hurt me too." She pulled up her pant leg to show me the long, whip-like scars all over her leg. I looked at her. She looked at me. We moved closer to one another. Then, my lips met hers in a kiss.

Tikaani's POV:

Sokka and I walked down the dark tunnel in silence. Everything was awkward for me because of what I knew would happen. Everything was awkward for Sokka because he had a crush on me. After walking for a long time, Sokka called out.

"Look! That must be the exit!" He cheered. He charged towards the door. When he reached it, however, it wouldn't budge.

"Step aside!" I instructed. Sokka stepped out of the way and I cracked my knuckles. I opened my pouch of bending water and sliced the solid rock door in half. I smirked to myself. Sokka looked amazed.

"You are an amazing girl, Tikaani!" Sokka cheered. I was glad that the darkness hid my blushing. As the rock fell away from the entrance, Sokka's joy faded. This wasn't the exit.

"This isn't the exit." I groaned. Sokka held up the torch so I could see. "This is a tomb." My voice echoed around the cavernous chamber.

"Why would someone make a tomb in the middle of a cursed tunnel?" Sokka asked. I elbowed him in the gut. "Ow!" We made our way down to the tomb and I tried to remember the exact words that Katara read from the tombs, but my mind drew a blank. I looked at the Japanese symbols and my mind went into panic mode. _Why didn't I ever take the time to learn Japanese writing? I can't read this!_ "What's the matter? Aren't you going to read it?" Sokka asked. I grimaced.

"Okay, confession time. I can't read." I waited for Sokka to laugh at me. He didn't, which was strange because if anyone else had said that, Sokka would have been the one to laugh at them. "Go ahead and laugh. I know you think its funny."

"I'm not going to laugh at you, Tikaani." Sokka assured warmly. "If we ever make it out of here alive, maybe I can teach you how to read." He smiled at me. I smiled and cursed the scriptwriters when I blushed. Sokka proceeded to read the story of the two lovers. "They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages. The villages were enemies so they could not be together, but their love was strong and they found a way. The two lovers learned earthbending from the badger moles. They became the first earthbenders. They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth.

"But one day the man didn't come. He died in the war between their two villages. Devastated, the woman released a terrible display of her earthbending power. She could have destroyed them all, but instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they would live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love." Sokka finished. We both turned around to see a huge statue of Oma and Shu kissing. Sokka read the inscription for me. "Love is brightest in the dark."

We stood in silence for a long time. I wasn't sure what to say. Sokka wasn't sure what to say. When two people are both unsure of what to say, it creates an awkward situation. I hate awkward situations.

"Sokka?" I wondered. "How are we going to find our way out of these tunnels?"

"I don't know." He confessed.

"I have a crazy idea." I knew I would have to say it. As much as I didn't want to kiss Sokka, I would have to say it.

"Maybe crazy is what we need to get out of here." Sokka sighed. "I'm all ears."

"The curse says we should trust in love to lead us out of this cave, right?"

"Yeah…" Sokka looked at me curiously, wondering if I would say what he wanted me to say. An idea popped into my head.

"So we should play a love song!" I enthused. Sokka blinked a couple times. "Sing with me!" I cried.

"I don't know any love songs." Sokka protested.

"Then just jump in and make stuff up!" I exclaimed. I was trying to think of a good love song that would fit the moment. My mind drew a blank. Suddenly, a song popped into my head. "In a perfect world, one we've never known, we would never need to face the world alone." I started walking down another pathway while I was singing. Sokka followed me. He looked like he wasn't sure whether he should be annoyed or amused.

"They can have the world. We'll create our own. I may not be brave or strong or smart, but somewhere in my secret heart I know love will find a way. Anywhere we go, I'm home if you are there beside me. Like dark turning into day, somehow we'll come through now that I've found you. Love will find a way." I finished Kiara's part of the song. _There is no way Sokka is going to get Kovu's part right. LOL!_

"Uh… Love will find a way!" He sang. It was off tune and his voice cracked while he was singing. I laughed and urged him to go on. "Uh…" He looked at me looking up at him. "There's a perfect world shining in your eyes." _Wow! He actual guessed the words right! I mean, sure they're in the wrong part of the song, but they're right!_

Ryuu's POV:

"I'm sorry that we have to leave so soon." I said my goodbyes to Song while Iroh thanked her mother for the duck.

"I have something for you." She smiled. "Follow me." Song led me out to the back of her house. I walked around the corner and leaped backwards in fright. I had come face to face with an ostrich horse. "Her name is Uma. I want you to keep her."

"I couldn't." I shook my head.

"Please. She'll help you on your travels." Song convinced. I nodded.

"Thank you, Song." I thanked her gratefully. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Shen." I felt a pang in my heart when she called me Shen. _Our entire relationship is built on a lie!_ I wailed inside my head. I hopped on top of Uma and walked out front.

"Look what Song gave me! Her name is Uma!" I cheered, stroking her furry feathers. "Isn't she beautiful!" Zuko stared at me like I had problems. We began to walk away, but Zuko stopped. There was another ostrich horse out front. Zuko hopped on its back. "What are you doing?"

"Three people will never fit on one ostrich horse." Zuko reasoned.

"These people just showed you great kindness!" Iroh objected.

"They're about to show us a little more kindness." Zuko held out his hand to help Iroh onto the ostrich horse. "Well?" Iroh unwillingly accepted Zuko's hand. We rode off into the sunset night.

Tikaani's POV:

"We're going to run out of light any second now." Sokka sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." I looked around at the dark walls of the cave. "We're not going to make it out of here, are we? We're going to die in these tunnels." I couldn't keep the fear out of my voice. It was genuine. _What if we took a wrong turn? What if we really are too off path to see the glowing crystals?_

"Well if we're going to die, then there's something you should know." Sokka admitted as he moved closer to me. The light slowly started to dwindle. "Tikaani… I think I'm in love with you."

"Sokka…" The torch went out. I couldn't see Sokka in the darkness, but I didn't need light to feel his lips against mine. My heart pounded a thousand times a minute. I was surprised he couldn't hear it. When we finally pulled away from each other and opened our eyes, crystals were glowing and leading us on the pathway out of the caves.

"That must be the way out!" I exclaimed. I laughed and ran along the pathway that was outlined by the glowing crystals. It was with half excitement that I ran, and half eagerness to get away from Sokka so I could think about things... _I have to admit that that kiss wasn't bad. But it just didn't feel _right. A whirlwind of conflicted feelings stormed inside of me. _I've had a crush on Zuko for forever. I can't be in love with Sokka too, but I can't chose between them._ I was almost lost, but then I remembered Suki. _Sokka belongs with Suki. He might not know it yet, but those two are perfect for one another._

Sunlight greeted me at the exit. To my surprise, Aang, Katara and the hipp- I mean nomads- were waiting for us.

"How did you guys get out?" I asked them in astonishment.

"We lost all the torches in the rockalanche." Katara explained. "Then these crystals on the ceiling-"

"Yeah, we know." Sokka informed.

We all said goodbye to the hippies before they left. We made our way up the trail that led to Omashu. Sokka pulled me to the back of the group on the way there.

"Tikaani… You don't feel the same way… do you?" He seemed heartbroken, but I couldn't lie to him just because I felt sorry for him.

"I'm sorry Sokka, but I don't think you're the one for me. And I don't think I'm the one for you, either." I apologized sadly.

"That's alright… I know what you mean. When we kissed back there. It just didn't…" Sokka trailed off. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I know, Sokka." We walked on in silence for a while.

"You guys might want to see this!" Aang's worried call sounded from the top of the hill. Sokka gaped at the city.

"Oh no…" He grumbled when he saw the Fire Nation insignia draped over Omashu's walls. Omashu had been taken over by the Fire Nation.


	19. Chapter 18: Swampy Vision

Ryuu's POV:

"Spare coins for weary travelers?" Iroh asked holding up his hat to people as they passed by. A few coins fell into the empty hat. I had to admit that Iroh was quite a good beggar!

"This is humiliating! We're royalty! These people should be giving us whatever we want!" Zuko muttered ungratefully. He was talking to Iroh and I felt excluded, but I pushed the feeling away.

"I don't need royalty to get what I want!" I snapped. "Watch this!" I noticed a pretty girl walking by. "Spare change for some hungry peasants." My stomach rumbled just at the right moment. _Couldn't have planned it better!_ The lady raised an eyebrow. "Surely a lady so fine could spare some change." I coughed a little.

"Oh, here you go." She caved in, tossing in one bronze piece.

"The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile." I snickered. She giggled before walking away.

"Well done, Ryuu!" Iroh complimented, laughing.

"How about some entertainment in exchange for a gold piece?" A man asked, holding up the gold piece and snickering.

"We're not performers!" Zuko growled.

"Not professional anyway." Iroh commented. He put the hat down and stood to his feet. I stood to my feet as well. I waited for Iroh to start so I could mimic him. "It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city they look so pretty!" I was surprised to realize that I recognized the song.

"Come on, we're talking a gold piece here!" The man whipped out a pair of broadswords. "Let's see some action! Dance!" He ordered, swinging the swords at our feet. I stumbled backwards in surprise and fell on top of Zuko, but Iroh continued to dance. Zuko shoved me off of him and we both watched Iroh.

"They kiss so sweet that you've really got to meet, the girls from Ba Sing Se." I clenched my fists as I watched Iroh dance. The man started laughing maniacally.

"Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner! Here you go." He threw the gold piece onto the ground in front of Iroh. Iroh picked it up as if nothing had happened.

"Such a kind man." Iroh smiled. Zuko and I watched him darkly.

Tikaani's POV:

I had tried to convince them not to go to Omashu, but does anyone ever listen to Tikaani? _No! _Maybe now that they know I was right twice, they'll listen better next time, or maybe not. I had warned them that flying over the swamp was a bad idea too. They argued that flying over the swamp was the quickest way to the next Earth Kingdom town or something like that.

"Hey, you taking us down for a reason?" Sokka wondered as Appa began to descend. Aang didn't reply. "Aang! Why are we going down?"

"What? I didn't even notice." Aang confessed.

"Are you noticing now?" I asked, as Appa seemed to be going down faster.

"Is something wrong?" Katara worried.

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me."

"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka questioned, scanning the thick trees below.

"No, I think it wants us to land there." Aang said.

"Land _where_? The only thing I see is water and trees." I snorted.

"I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending, I would have to wait and listen." Aang informed. He looked down at the swamp. "And now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"

"Yes!" Sokka concluded.

"I have to agree with Sokka on this one." I stated.

"There's something ominous about that place." Katara added. Momo ducked behind Appa's saddle and Appa let out an indignant roar. "Even Appa and Momo don't like it here."

"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this… Bye swamp!" Aang pulled up on Appa's reins and the bison flew higher into the sky. We were beginning to fly away when I heard a loud noise. I turned around to see a huge tornado heading towards us.

"You better throw in an extra yip!" Sokka called.

"We gotta get outta here!" I cried. Appa moved faster, but the tornado sucked us up. We whirled around in the winds. Aang tried to create an air sphere, but the tornado was too strong. We were flung through the air. I couldn't tell up from down or left from right. I didn't know where I was until I plummeted into a large pool of murky swamp water. When my head broke the surface, I looked around, but the others were nowhere to be seen. Aang, Katara and Sokka weren't there. Appa and Momo weren't there either.

"So I'm the one who gets stuck by myself?" I thought grumpily. "Just great!" I stood to my feet and started rinsing out my clothes. After they seemed at least semi-dry, I took a step and tripped face-first into the mud. I came up spitting out the nasty water and earth mix. I washed the mud out of my eyes. "How am I supposed to get out of this muddy water if I trip with every step I take?" I wondered aloud to myself.

_Have you completely forgotten that you're a waterbender?_ I realized before I took another step. I took all the mud out of my clothes with waterbending before I waterbended myself up to a tree. I looked around, but the only thing I could see for miles was the swamp. Weirder than that, the tornado that had sent me flying across the swamp only moments ago was completely gone now. _Okay, so this place is a little creepy. Even though I've watched the episode, I can feel a chill crawling up my spine._ I thought and shivered a bit. _Okay, I need to find a way out of here ASAP._

I slid down the tree and created a small surfboard made of ice. I leaped on the ice surfboard and surfed through the swamp, making sure to avoid tree roots and other obstacles. I surfed until my arms were so tired from all the bending that they might just fall off. As if that wasn't bad enough, no trace of the other three or Appa or Momo could be found. I finally gave up, dissipated my ice board, and prepared to set up a bed of moss on a giant tree root for the night. I settled into the downy-soft foliage and closed my eyes.

_SNAP!_ A crisp noise split the air just when I was about to fall asleep. I sat straight up and peered around, but there was no one to be seen. _Must have imagined it. _I closed my eyes again.

_CRACK!_ This time, I didn't just sit up. I stood to my feet and stared at my surroundings.

"Who's there?" I called, peering through the trees. I had the sensation that someone was watching me. "Show yourself!"

"Tikaani?" I whipped around to come face to face with a girl who had shaggy reddish-brown hair. She was soaked from head to toe and her hair was hanging in her face, but I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Red!" I cried. I hugged her. "Ew, you're covered in mud!" I helped her dry off by taking all the water out of her clothes and putting it back into the swamp.

"Thanks. Its times like this that I really do wish I was a bender." Red stated.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. She was the last person I had been expecting to run into out here.

"I was following Jet, but I kind of lost him." Red sighed. "Three days ago a tornado dragged me into the swamp. I was flying on Walnut, but we were split up. I still haven't found him, or a way out of this swamp."

"Walnut?" I wondered. The name seemed slightly familiar. "Didn't you say he was your pet wolf bat?"

"Yeah. He was the king of the wolf bats before we left the cave, so he's pretty big. Big enough to carry someone, but only one person." Red informed.

"What have you been doing since we left?" I wondered.

"Jet's been down ever since you guys left. He's been thinking about life and stuff like that. Eventually, he decided to go to Ba Sing Se. That was only two weeks ago. He didn't want me to come along, so I've been tracking him. He's traveling really slow, so he probably won't get to Ba Sing Se for weeks." Red looked at me. "What have you been up to?"

"I went to the North Pole and my dad taught me waterbending. I'm a master now." I demonstrated the octopus move easily. She clapped slowly. "So far we've met General Fong, been to the cave of two lovers and saved the citizens of Omashu."

"So you haven't done _anything_ out of the ordinary?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow. "I swear you look different somehow." Red narrowed her eyes at me and looked me up and down. "Oh. My. Gosh." Red talked slowly and took a step backwards with every word.

"What is it?" I asked, tilting my head in conclusion.

"You had your first kiss!" She cried, throwing her arms into the air. I opened my mouth to argue, but she didn't let me. "How did you kiss Zuko so early in the series? Isn't that messing with the plot?" I shook my head slowly. Red grew a disgusted look. "You didn't! Tell me you didn't! You kissed Aang, didn't you?"

"WHAT?" I asked in rage. "I'm sixteen and he's like a hundred and twelve!"

"Oh my gosh, you kissed Sokka! It was in the Cave of Two Lovers, wasn't it?" I didn't know how Red seemed to know absolutely everything. I nodded slowly. "I thought you said you were going to keep rejecting him!"

"It just happened, but Sokka doesn't like me anymore. He told me that the kiss didn't feel right and that we weren't meant to be." I informed. Red opened her mouth to say something, but she yawned instead. I laughed.

"Let's get some sleep. We can look for the others tomorrow." Red suggested. I happily agreed.

We were trekking through the forest the next day. Red and I both knew that the strange visions would start kicking in any minute. Red told me she had been seeing her mother everywhere. I asked her what happened to her mother.

"She was brainwashed by some Dai Li agents. I was only eight years old."

"How come bad things always happen to people when they're eight years old?" I wondered. "Jet's parents and Mako's parents died when they were eight."

"I don't know, okay. She completely forgot about me, so I took The Duke and we left the city." Red explained. "I still miss her. Stupid Dai Li agents."

"Who's that?" I asked, looking around Red. Standing a little ways away was a woman with black hair and a red dress. She had her hair in a bun. She was wearing a red necklace with a golden Fire Nation insignia on it, just like mine. I walked towards her, pushing Red out of the way. Tears formed in my eyes. "Mom?"

A hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"Snap out of it, Tikaani! It's just a vision!" Red shouted. I shook my head, but her image was still in my mind. I looked back towards where I thought I'd seen my mother, but it was just a tiny tree sapling. When I turned back towards Red, she was looking through the trees. "Jet!" She exclaimed. She quickly climbed the vines and jumped through the trees. "JET! Wait up!"

"Red, it's just a vision!" She didn't even seem to notice me. I sighed and surfed through the trees with my waterbending again. I was going so fast that I didn't see the giant tree until it was too late. I crashed and fell towards its roots. Luckily, someone soft broke my fall. I looked down. "Aang, Katara, Sokka!" I cheered. We all struggled to our feet.

"What do you guys think you're doing?" Sokka inquired angrily. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Well I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara countered.

"I was talking to Red." I looked up at the giant tree, but Red was nowhere to be seen. _Did I… Did I imagine everything?_

"Well I was chasing some girl. I heard laughter and I saw some girl in a fancy dress." Aang explained.

"Well there must be a tea party here and we didn't get our invitations." Sokka mumbled sarcastically.

"I thought I saw mom…" Katara admitted, looking at the ground.

"I saw my mom too." I looked at the water below.

"Look, we were all scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here." Sokka reasoned.

"You saw something too?" Katara asked.

"I thought I saw Yue." Sokka sighed. "But that doesn't prove anything. Look, I think about her all the time and you both saw your mothers, someone you miss a lot." I hoped that I hadn't imagined Red, but I was sure I'd heard her.

"What about me? I saw Jet." I looked up and Red leaped onto the root. Sokka, Katara and Aang leaped backwards.

"Red! I knew I didn't imagine you!" I cried gleefully. She snickered at me.

"Wait. You're with Jet!" Katara accused.

"I _was_ with Jet. 'Was.' Past tense, as in 'not anymore.'" Red explained. Katara glared at her skeptically.

"Whatever we saw, all of our visions led us here." Aang noticed. We all looked around. "But where is here?"

"The middle of the swamp?" Red suggested. I nodded.

"Yeah, the center…" Aang mused. We all looked up. "It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here. I knew it!" Aang cheered. Sokka raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone. For the last time there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here!" Sokka concluded. Suddenly, a huge vine monster emerged from the depths of the swamp water. The other three screamed, but Red and I exchanged a knowing look. I sliced the monster in half with an extra sharp water whip to reveal an old man.

"Why did you call us here?" Aang asked the old man.

"I didn't call you here." Huu argued.

"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land."

"He's the avatar. Stuff like that happens to us all the time." Sokka said flatly.

"The avatar? Come with me." Huu led the five of us to the top of the tree. We could see the swamp stretching for miles around us.

"So who are you then?" Katara asked.

"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it. Like this guy with his big knife." He growled, narrowing his eyes at Sokka.

"See? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home." Sokka convinced. "Nothing mystical about it."

"Oh the swamp is a mystical place, alright. It's sacred." Huu argued. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan grove tree. I heard it calling me, just like you did."

"Sure ya did." Sokka muttered sarcastically. "It seems real chatty."

"See this whole swamp is actually just one tree, spread out for miles." Huu informed. "Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more. One big living organism, just like the entire world."

"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?"

"Sure. Do you think you're any different from me or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree." Huu explained. I rolled my eyes. _This is so boring._ I looked over at Red to see that she was closing her eyes and breathing in and out slowly.

"You aren't actually listening to him, are you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Many leaves, one tree." She replied ominously. I recognized it as a line from one of our favorite movies, _Epic_.

"Exactly." Huu smiled.

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara wondered.

"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost or people we loved. Folks we think are gone, but the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death." Huu finished.

"Amen, brother, amen…" Red nodded slowly.

"But what about my vision? It was someone I'd never met." Aang explained.

"Oh, and I saw Jet." Red suddenly added. "But I know he's not dead." _Yet…_ I thought sadly.

"Why don't you tell me?" Huu tested. Red and Aang thought for a bit.

"So its someone I will meet?" Aang asked. Huu nodded.

"And I miss Jet?" Huu nodded again. "Great, now lets find Appa, Momo and Walnut!" Red cried, placing her hand to the tree. "They're in trouble! Come on, we've gotta hurry!"

"Where'd you say you was from?" Tho asked as we sat around the warm campfire. He was talking to Katara and Sokka. I was sitting a little ways away, chatting with Red. I couldn't believe the Gaang had agreed to let Red join! We were whispering about how we were going to save Jet's life and other stuff we were going to change about the plot.

"I already have a plan for saving Jet, but I can't tell you now." Red whispered.

"You always did love surprises. Do you think Zuko would listen to me if I convinced him to join our side during the Crossroads of Destiny?" I asked. Red shook her head.

"Not unless you mention something about his honor." Red laughed. I narrowed my eyes.

"That is a serious topic. I take that to much offense." I tried to keep a straight face, but both of us started laughing. "Isn't that basically what Azula did?"

Ryuu's POV:

Zuko and I slunk through the night. We had both procured new masks from a merchant in town. Tonight The Blue Spirit and The Dragon Spirit were working as partners in crime once again. This time, we had one specific target in mind: that evil man with the swords who made Iroh dance for money. He was walking down a dark alley. He was holding the swords wrong, so he was easy to unarm.

Zuko picked up the dual swords. I pretended to pick up a pair of invisible dual swords, because I'm just that awesome.


	20. Chapter 19: Unsolved Histories

Tikaani's POV:

"Momo, you need to be a little more sensitive to my boundaries." Sokka's annoying voice woke me up a little too early in the morning. I picked up a pinecone and chucked it at him.

"And you need to be a little more sensitive to my sleepy time!" I growled before burying my head in my sleeping bag. I was about to fall back to sleep when a loud rumbling echoed throughout the forest. "Sokka, stop snoring!"

"That's not snoring!" Red shouted above the rumbling. I looked up from where I was sleeping and almost died of fright. There was a huge komodo rhino lumbering only a few feet away from me. I screamed and scrambled out of my sleeping bag, backing away from the huge beast. Komodo rhinos had always been my least favorite animals in the avatarverse. They were terrifying! Three razor sharp horns and hooked claws on their feet? Not to mention that whip-like tail- talk about horrific.

"Give up? You're completely surrounded!" The leader of the Rough Rhinos (I couldn't remember his name... It was Manook or Magook or something like that) I looked around. Three other komodo rhinos were circling our camp. Sokka squirmed away from some flaming arrows. Katara started running towards Appa. I ran over to Red to help her carry her pet wolf bat, Walnut, who was still half asleep, onto Appa's saddle. As soon as he was safe I let out a sigh of relief and climbed onto the saddle myself.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Sokka rushed as he clumsily mounted Appa. Katara froze before she reached the giant bison. She looked back.

"My scrolls!" She cried.

"My necklace!" I hollered.

"My staff!" Aang exclaimed.

All three of us leaped off of Appa to retrieve our possessions. Katara snatched her scrolls right out from under the nose of a Rough Rhino soldier. I grabbed my sleeping bag- my necklace was in there somewhere- and returned to Appa as quickly as I could. I searched through my sleeping bag and sighed with relief when I found my Fire Nation necklace.

"Yip yip!" Aang returned with his staff and leaped onto the bison's head just before Appa lifted into the air. As we were flying off, Sokka looked back.

"Wait, my boomerang!" He complained.

"There's no time!" Katara told him.

"Oh, I see, so there's time to get your scrolls, time to get your staff, and time to get your necklace, but no time for _my_ boomerang?" Sokka chastised loudly.

"Of course there's time, we just don't feel like facing those guys now." I pointed out. Sokka seethed. I looked at Red. "Isn't that right, Re-" I stopped. Her face was pale white. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost. "Are you all right?" I asked, wondering what could be wrong. Then I realized that her arms were bare.

A quick description of Red's arm blades: They are metal bands that clasp around her forearms. The metal bands have blades attached to the outer sides that can slide out and be used just like swords. Red told me that she crafted them herself in the tunnels underneath Jet's forest, where she lived before he caught her and The Duke trying to steal their food. She lived with the wolf bats in those elaborate tunnels. She had even built a forge in the center, where she crafted metalwork. Apparently, she had created the spearheads of Longshot's arrows and Smellerbee's crooked knife.

"My arm blades..." She muttered. Her voice was hollow. "How could this happen to me?" She sounded like a lost puppy in a crowd of strangers that had been kicked too often.

"At least we'll get them back at the end of the episode. " I whispered. Red's eyes lit up, but they darkened again. "What is it?"

"Nothing..." Red grumbled, while she patted Walnut's head. He had fallen back to sleep.

"Are you sure?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion. Red never kept any secrets from her RWBFFAT. There was definitely something wrong. Red didn't respond to my question so I decided not to press her. If something was bothering her, she would need to think about it and tell me in her own time, if at all.

We flew for a while before my stomach grumbled. Red's stomach grumbled too, and everyone, minus Sokka, began to laugh. Appa lighted down in a grove of trees near Chin Village. The five of us purchased some food at a produce stand.

"Sorry about your arm blades, Red." I apologized. "And your boomerang, Sokka."

"I feel like I've lost part of my identity..." Sokka mumbled.

"I feel like I've lost _all_ of my identity..." Red grumbled. Walnut whimpered and nuzzled her hand. She smiled a little, but it didn't help her mood.

"Imagine if you lost your arrow," Sokka pointed at Aang's arrow, "or if Katara lost her... hair loopies."

"Or if Tikaani lost her..." Red paused. "Tikaani, you are so lucky! You don't have anything to lose because you already lost it all!" Red cried, throwing her hands into the air in over exaggeration. I narrowed my eyes at her. "The only one who understands my pain is ponytail guy!" She finished woefully.

"Here's you're produce ponytail guy." The produce guy said, handing Sokka a basket of food. Sokka took the basket sorrowfully.

"I used to be boomerang guy." He sighed, walking away. Red moped after him. I walked over to Red and patted her reassuringly on the back.

"Have a nice Avatar Day!" The produce guy cheered as he began to walk away.

"Avatar Day?" Aang asked, shooting upward with a happy smile.

"You guys are going to the festival, right?" He asked.

"I'll go, but I WON'T enjoy it!" Red snapped.

Ryuu's POV:

I paced the cave frantically. My footsteps echoed off the dark roof, sending the sounds back through the empty cave. The only other noise that broke the silence were the crackling flames from the campfire in the corner of the cave, Iroh's rumbling snores, and the occasional call of a cat owl in early morning. I stopped as Zuko stirred slightly in his sleep, but he didn't awaken. I continued to pace. Pacing helped me think and I had a lot on my mind.

_Only one person left who can tell me the information I need to know. _I thought. _And I need to find her. _I put a momentary pause on my pacing to look at Iroh and Zuko. _But I can't go it alone. I hate being alone. Iroh and Zuko need me, don't they? _I shook my head to clear it before pacing some more. _No. They don't need me, they can survive on their own. _I stopped again. _But can _I _survive on _my _own?_

"What are you doing up so early?" I froze and turned around to see Zuko glaring at me with hard golden eyes.

"Thinking." I confessed.

"Don't hurt yourself." Zuko snorted.

"Hey!" I protested, but then my anger faded. My eyes widened and I stared at Zuko.

"What? Why are you staring at me?"

"You just made a joke." I was flabbergasted. Zuko _never_ made jokes.

"No I didn't." He stated matter-of-factly. I laughed.

"Yes you did!" I urged, laughing. I stopped and dropped my voice to a whisper. "Don't worry, I won't tell Iroh." Zuko scoffed. He stood to his feet and walked out of the cave. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Out." Zuko responded. I thought about whether or not I should follow him, but decided against it. _His 'going out' is his business._

Tikaani's POV:

"There's a holiday for the avatar. Who knew?" Aang mused.

"Who cares?" Red spat. Aang looked hurt.

"Don't listen to her, Aang." Katara soothed, shooting Red a venomous look. "Look! They made a giant Kyoshi float!" Katara exclaimed, pointing towards the giant Kyoshi. Aang smiled and we headed to the front of the crowd.

"And here comes Avatar Roku!" Sokka piped. At least the festival was picking him out of the dumps. Red was in a bad mood and I knew better than anyone that Red tended to say some very unkind things when she was in a bad mood. I just hoped she wouldn't cuss in front of the others. They might start asking questions.

I watched as the two giant avatars were wheeled into the center of town. The crowd cheered loudly. I grew a disgusted look when I remembered that they were celebrating an anti-avatar day.

"Having a huge festival in your honor is great, but frankly, its just nice to be appreciated." Aang admitted.

"And its nice to appreciate their deep fried festival food!" Sokka cheered, stuffing his face. I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, its Aang!" I cried, pointing to the third giant float that had just been wheeled in.

"Its the biggest me I've ever seen!" Aang mused. They lined the floats up. A man with a torch ran through the crowd, toward the statues.

"A torch, that's a nice prop!" Sokka observed. "It's bright, dangerous," Sokka paused to take a sniff, "smells manly." He finished. "But I'm not sure I could carry it off."

"You can't carry anything." Red chastised. I elbowed her gently and she punched my shoulder so hard that I swore it was going to bruise.

"Hey, what's that guy doing?" Katara questioned as he leaped through the Kyoshi float. The float began to catch fire, but no one bothered to put it out.

"Down with the avatar!" The people cheered as he moved on to the Roku float. "Down with the avatar! Down with the avatar!" The torch man climbed onto the roof of a building and flung the torch through the air. It struck the statue Aang in the eye. The statue began to get lit on fire. The crowd cheered again, but Katara and I rushed out of the crowd and put out the fires. There was no saving the Kyoshi or Roku floats, but at least Aang's head wasn't too badly damaged.

"Those party-poopers are ruining avatar day!" A man in the crowd protested. Aang airbended himself onto his own float.

"Those party poopers are my friends!" He hollered, throwing off his hat to reveal his shining bald head and airbender tattoos. The crowd grasped.

"Its the avatar himself!" The town leader cried, pointing at Aang in shock.

"It's going to kill us with its awesome avatar powers!" A citizen cried

"No, I'm not, I-" Aang lifted a hand and the villagers shrunk back in fear. Aang quickly hid his hand behind his back.

"I suggest you leave. You're not welcome here, avatar." Mayor Tong judged.

"Why not? Aang helps people!" Katara convinced.

"Yeah! He's on your side, so why don't you LAY OFF ALREADY!" Red piped up, getting in Tong's face. Tong took a few steps backwards, sneering. I tried to calm Red, but she swatted me away like a bothersome fly.

"I find that hard to swallow, considering what you did to us in your past life!" Tong argued. "It was avatar Kyoshi, she murdered our glorious leader, Chin the Great."

"You think that I... Murdered someone?" Aang gasped, taken aback.

"That's what he said, sherlock!" Red shouted unnecessarily.

"We used to be a great society before you killed our leader!" An ugly old man accused dryly. "Now look at us!"

"Well that's just scary..." Red muttered. I really wished I could filter out her commentary for this episode.

"Aang would never do something like that!" Katara growled. "No avatar would. And it's not fair for you all to question his honor!"

"Let's tell her what we all think of the avatar's honor!" A man shouted. He faced his butt towards us and made fake farting noises. The crowd cheered in agreement.

"Hey, that's exactly what we think of Zuko's honor!" Red cheered. I glared at her angrily.

"Maybe that's what I think of Jet's eyebrows!" I hollered.

"Hey! That's better than half of his face looking like bacon and smelling like burnt toast!" Red countered.

"At least Zuko didn't die after being in what- five episodes?" I countered, completely forgetting that we were being watched by a crowd of people who didn't know that they were fake. Realization struck me a little too late and I covered my mouth.

"Well you know what?" Red asked. Her lip was quivering a bit and her eyes were getting misty. "Maybe I'll make sure that Azula kills Zuko instead of Aang in Ba Sing Se!" Red retorted, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. She wiped them away and sped off, leaving me to face the crowd of questioning onlookers.

"What?" Katara's eyes were wide. "What's going on? Episodes?" I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly as I face Katara. _Holy sh*t! How am I supposed to get out of this mess? I've got to think of something, think of _anything_. Come on, Kandace, remember your improv classes... Improv... That's it!_

"Improv. We were just doing improv." I lied way too easily.

"Improv? What's that?" Sokka wondered.

"Acting without any preparation beforehand. Red and I sometimes do spontaneous bursts of improv. Just to keep people on their toes." I smiled innocently. Everyone was staring at me like a nutcase. "Well, then... I'll just go find Red and tell her how awful we were." I grumbled. I scurried off in the direction that Red had run off in.

Once I was free of the crowd, I looked for Red in a couple of alleyways. She loved to sulk in lonely places when she was upset. I listened closely until I heard someone muttering to herself in an alleyway to my right. I turned into the alleyway. "Red?"

"Tikaani?" Red laughed halfheartedly. I walked deeper into the alleyway. I gulped when I saw Walnut sitting next to her. _Oh great, she brought her wolf bat to maul me apart._

"Sorry about that fight we had. And what I said." I apologized.

"S'all right." She said. "You know what they say; Fangirling can be dangerous, e-"

"Especially for Longshot's fangirls." I interjected. It was a phrase Red used a lot because Smellerbee would probably murder any fangirls who tried to get close to Longshot. It was also one of the reasons that I hadn't tried flirting with Longshot while we were at the Freedom Fighters' base. "So, we cool?" I wondered.

"Cool." Red nodded and snapped her fingers. Walnut spread his wings before leaping into the sky and flying off. "He's going to go give Appa and Momo some company. So..." Red paused. "What did you tell them about all that crazy stuff we said?"

"Improv." I shrugged. Red laughed.

"You are a genius!" She cooed.

"Ugh... What do you want to do until the court case tomorrow? I don't feel like heading to Kyoshi or anything. It's too far, even if we are flying on Appa." I admitted.

"Let's get into a deep conversation about how much better Jet is compared to Zuko." Red enthused. I narrowed my eyes.

"Shut up before I seriously hurt you." I threatened. Red laughed maniacally and I rolled my eyes. _What would I do without Red?_

Ryuu's POV:

I would have shoved somethings into a burlap sack if I had anything to take with me, but I had nothing. I snuck past Zuko and almost tripped over Iroh. Why was I leaving in the middle of the night? Seriously, I would rather be sleeping right now. _But I can't leave in broad daylight._ I sighed silently. Guilt weighed heavily on my shoulders, dragging me down almost as much as my stone heart. _How can I leave them without even telling them? Without so much as a goodbye? _I bit my lip as I looked back on Iroh and Zuko. I shook my head to clear it.

_This is something I have to do. I have to find out what happened to my parents. I have to find out how I know that Water Tribe girl. _I thought back to the flashback that I'd had at the North Pole, but it still didn't make any sense to me. Why had I protected Tikaani from Azula? I was a firebender! I was betraying my country by helping a waterbender, wasn't I? _Why does my life have to be so complicated? I wish it was simple, I wish I could see the answers right in front of me._

I cleared my head again and faced the exit to the cave. _This is taking too long._ I stepped out of the cave. I walked over to Uma. She was sleeping peacefully in the grass. I didn't want to wake her, but I didn't have a choice. When I roused her she shook her head and made loud, annoying grunts. I calmed her down before she woke anyone up, but I wasn't quick enough.

"Wait!" I whipped around to come face to face with Iroh. I bit my lip as the guilt inside me rose higher. It was a wave, threatening to wash over me.

"I'm sorry, Iroh. I need to... I need to find out what happened to my parents. And I need to find out who she is..." I trailed off, not knowing what else I could say.

"That's alright. This is a journey you have to make." Iroh put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. The guilt lifted a little, but some of it still lingered deep inside me. "Goodbye, and good luck, Ryuu."

Tikaani's POV:

"The accused will now spin the wheel of punishment to determine his sentence." The executioner announced as Aang faced the huge gray wheel. He was still wearing Kyoshi's make up and kimono and everything. I leaned over to whisper to Red, only to see she wasn't there. I looked over to see Red chatting in a circle of villagers a little ways off.

"Red? what are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, we're betting on Aang's sentence." Red replied placidly. "I bet one copper he'll be boiled in oil."

"Two coppers for the torture machine!" Another villager chimed.

"Three silvers and my first baby tooth that he'll get eaten by bears!" The scary old man piped up.

"Keep the tooth." Red grimaced. "Any other takers?"

"Four golds for the razor pit!" Another guy piped up.

"You want to place any bets, Tikaani?"

I rolled my eyes at the fact that Red was just using her knowledge of what was going to happen to win a lot of money. And that she had already picked the correct option. "No thanks."

"Your loss." Red snickered. We turned her attention back to the center as Aang approached the wheel.

"I said I would face justice, so I will." Aang announced as he gave it a spin.

"Come on, torture machine!"

"Eaten by bears!"

"Razor pit!"

"Boiled in oil!" Red chimed.

"Community service, please stop on community service!" Katara pleaded as the wheel began to slow down.

"Looks like its boiled in oil." The executioner grumbled. The villagers cheered, all but those who had bet with Red.

"Hand me yo money, fools!" Red hollered. They unwillingly handed her the cash She stuffed it into her pockets. Sokka and Katara stared at Aang in horror. Aang looked at the ground sadly. _It's a sad existence for the avatar._

Red's POV:

I smiled at the jangling in my pockets, but before I became too caught up in my contrived victory, a bomb whizzed through the air over my head. It exploded by Chin's Temple. Thick smoke clouds billowed through the air. When the smoke cleared, the temple was in ruins and flames licked at the cold marble floors. Some of the grass at the edge of the plaza started catching, but we have bigger problems to worry about now.

I turned around and lifted my head towards the spot at the top of the hill where three komodo rhinos were swishing their might tails back and forth. My eyes narrowed. I breathed a puff of smoke out of my nostrils as I glare at the Rough Rhinos' leader.

"Mongke." I whispered to myself. I could feel the anger coursing through my veins.

"We've come to claim this village for the Fire Lord!" Mongke exclaimed. "Now show me your leader so I may," He paused and one of his grunts- the one with the huge spear- sliced right through Chin's statue, "dethrone him."

"That's him over there!" A villager cried, pointing at Mayor Tong. He squealed and hid behind the wheel of punishment.

"You, avatar, do something!" Tong urged.

"Gee. I'd love to help, but I'm supposed to be boiled in oil." Aang stated simply. Tong moved the wheel so that the arrow was pointing towards a picture of someone sweeping.

"There, community service!" Tong cheered. "Now serve our community and get rid of those rhinos!" Aang smiled and darted toward large-spear-man. As he did so, he threw off his dress. He kept Kyoshi's fans and used them to airbend large-spear-man off his rhino.

"Rough Rhinos, to the town!" Mongke cried. The rhinos turned around and began to ride off, but I kept my eyes glued on Mongke. I was about to chase after him, but Tikaani grabbed my wrist.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. "This is Aang's fight!"

"I have to face Mongke." I responded. Tikaani didn't let go.

"Then I'll face him with you." She pressed. I shook my head.

"This is something I have to do alone." I wrenched free of her grasp and whistled. In a matter of seconds Walnut dropped down from the sky and I climbed onto his back. He is so overprotective. I can always count on him to stay within earshot, no matter where I go. "To the skies!" I ordered. Walnut spread his bat-like wings and soared. I could tell he had been working on his vertical take off. Wolf bats make the best pets, because they're so smart.

I scanned the town as Walnut flew overhead. Katara stopped the ball and chain-guy, Sokka took out masked-man, Aang took out Yu-yan. Mongke was alone in an alleyway. I dropped down in front of him.

"Recognize me?" I asked. My reddish brown eyes locked with his. My mother always told me that they were the same color as mine, but when he left her, the blackness in his soul probably started to show in his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He snapped. "Now get out of my way, little girl!"

"Of course you don't. I was only a baby when you LEFT MY MOTHER AT THE ALTAR!" I spat viciously.

"You're Jaya's daughter?" Mongke sneered. He looked like a bull about ready to charge, especially with the nose ring. I wanted to rip it out and jab it into his eye. Before my mother lost her memory, she used to talk about this liar, this coward... She talked about how she _still loved him._ _How can she still love someone who ripped out her heart out and threw it to the hog monkeys? How can she love this heartless, power-hungry maniac?_

"You abandoned her! How could she ever love a f****** b****** like you?" I knew he wouldn't understand what those words meant, but I didn't care. It felt good to call him curse words after what he did. "Burn in h***, bloody b****." Sure, he had no idea what the words meant, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that I was insulting him.

He didn't even say anything before he charged. The komodo rhino charged towards me, but I didn't run. Instead, I waited for it to come. I waited until it was barreling down on me, then I jumped. I did a front flip, grabbing hold of the second two horns. I pushed up with my hands and front flipped again. Now I was standing on the komodo rhino's hunched shoulders, facing my evil father.

The look of surprise in his eyes gave me pleasure. Adrenaline coursed through me. I felt like I had energy and power enough to do anything so I brought my fist back, preparing for a punch. I pushed it forward with as much force as I could muster, but Mongke was too fast for that. He stopped my fist with his hand and twisted it. Pain shot through my wrist, but I wasn't done yet. Not by a longshot. _I've gotta remember to use that next time I see him!_

_Okay, focus!_ The pain in my wrist brought me back quickly. _A way out of this? _He was wearing armor, kicking him in the chest would definitely be of no use. _His pits aren't covered. _So I aimed a kick and put as much power into it as possible. The kick got him directly in the right armpit. Mongke reflexively let go of my wrist, but I didn't have time to aim another punch. I decided to slap him instead. My slap was hard enough to leave five bright-red finger marks across his bony face.

Mongke let out a grunt of rage and swiped my aside with one of his arms. I flew into a brick wall and slid onto the floor of the alley. One of the spikes on his arm got me right in the gut. I winced and looked up. The komodo rhino was lumbering towards me. _I hope being impaled by a komodo rhino's horn isn't as painful of a death as it sounds. _I thought hopefully, but I didn't close my eyes. If I was going to face death, I would face it without fear, like the Dauntless I am.

But I am not going to die today because a powerful jet- oh how I miss my Jet- of water comes out of nowhere. It is powerful enough to push the rhino to his side, and to send Mongke through a tough wooden fence. I look in the direction that the jet *cough* JET *cough* of water came from. Who else would I have suspected to save me?

"I told you not to interfere." I snapped, but I didn't mean it one bit. I was so glad to see Tikaani! _If I die in the anime, do I die in real life?_ The question scared me. What happened if I did die here? Would I wake up in the real world or in StarClan? Er... I mean Heaven?

"And what was I supposed to do? Watch my RWBFFAT die?" Tikaani rolled her eyes at me. "There's a fine line between stupidity and bravery, you know. Why would you face Mongke if you knew you weren't going to win? You don't have any bending and you've lost your only tool of self defense."

"Because, well... Mongke is my father." I confessed.

"What?" Tikaani's mouth dropped open involuntarily. "How?"

"I'll explain later... But for now... Its festival time!" I cheered.

"Wait." Tikaani stared at me. Or at my arms. "Where are your arm blades?"

"I... I don't know..." I frowned. According to the episode, they were supposed to be with Mongke, or one of the other Rough Rhinos... What was I supposed to do now?

"Don't worry. How about we go check the clearing where you left them first thing in the morning?

Jet's POV:

We trudged through the forest. It was early in the morning, just passed dawn, and the other two just wanted to sleep. I wouldn't let them. The sooner we reached Ba Sing Se, the sooner I could forget about my old life with the Freedom Fighters. I was turning over a new weed. _I only wish Red were here... _I thought bitterly as we trampled on some fallen leaves. _Why didn't I let her come along? Why didn't I tell her my true feelings before we left? Ugh, I'm so stupid sometimes!_

"Can we rest soon, Jet?" I turned my head to see that Smellerbee and Longshot were falling behind again. They were walking a long ways behind me. I narrowed my eyes. "We've been walking since moonhigh! Why did we leave camp so early anyways?"

"I told you, It's not safe to stay in one place for too long!" I snapped. "There's still a war going on, you know. The sooner we get to Ba Sing Se, the sooner we won't have to worry about it any more."

Longshot glared at me with his eyes narrowed. The edges of his lips were curled down in a frown. His eyebrows were lowered to show that he didn't agree. I knew it would be hard for anyone outside of the Freedom Fighters to know what his expressions meant, but I could read it like an open book. He was saying, "If you expect us to encounter trouble, then it would be more beneficial if we weren't too tired to face them."

I sighed. "You're right, Longshot. We'll find somewhere to rest soon, don't-" I broke off and froze as we walked out of the forest, and into a small clearing. I could smell the scent of something burning, a smell that I would _always_ recognize. Smellerbee and Longshot came out of the forest behind me. I walked towards the middle of the clearing to inspect a tree stump. The dirt around the tree stump had scuffle marks on it, as if there had been a struggle. I looked at Longshot and Smellerbee.

Smellerbee was examining some scorch marks on the tree trunks around the edge of the clearing. Longshot studied a deep footprint in the ground. Even from here, I could tell that they were from komodo rhinos.

I looked back towards the tree stump. There was something off about it. I went to peel off some bark that didn't follow the same pattern as the rest of the tree stump; as I did so, it opened up a hollow in the tree stump.

"Longshot, Smellerbee!" I called them over as I stared into the hollow with dread. _No. It _can't _be. It isn't..._ When the two of them joined me, I reached into the tree stump and pulled out a pair of metal arm bands with strange compartments on the sides. I clicked a button towards the base of one, and blades shot out. "Red... RED!" I stood to my feet and looked around frantically, but the clearing was empty for everyone except for me. And the other two. "RED!" I cried as loud as I could, but there was no answer.

"Jet... I don't think she's here." Smellerbee whispered quietly. I turned to look between her and Longshot.

"Firebenders were." I was panicking from the inside out. I turned to Longshot for answers, but his eyes only said what Smellerbee and I were to afraid to say.

"Red's gone, and firebenders were here." His saddened gaze told us as he looked at the ground. He lifted his head. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. We have to keep going."

"You're right again, Longshot..." I picked up the arm blades. If Red was gone, then I needed them. I needed them, not to protect me, but to remind me of her. _I should have told her how I felt before I left. I should have told her to come with us. Now she's either been captured by firebenders or... _I shook my head, banning those thoughts. _Either way, I'll never see her again... I'm so sorry, Red. I should have told you how I felt. I love you._ "Let's keep moving."

I saw Longshot and Smellerbee exchange a nervous glance as I continued onward, but this time, neither of them complained as we walked through the forest.


	21. Chapter 20: Taang Shippers Unite

Tikaani's POV:

"Isn't this when we meet Toph?" Red whispered as Sokka examined a green bag that was on display at a shop.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"It's pricy, but I really do like it." Sokka rubbed his chin as he examined it.

"Then you should get it, you deserve something nice." Katara agreed.

"I do, don't I?" Sokka changed his mind instantly. "But, no it's too expensive. I shouldn't." Sokka shook his head.

"Good, because it didn't match your belt anyway." Red piped up.

"Do you think it matches my belt?" I asked. My belt was white, just like Sokka's. Red nodded.

"Yes, it totally does!" She nodded vigorously. "You should get that purse!" She said, pointing towards the bag that Sokka had wanted to buy.

"You're right, I should." I swiped it right out from under Sokka's nose. Sokka gaped at me with a super depressed look as if he really had wanted to buy it. Red and I laughed.

"Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for." Katara was telling Aang just as Red, Sokka and I joined them. We waited outside until Aang's lesson was over. He came out still trying to knock dirt out of his ears.

"Eh, he's not the one." Aang sighed.

"I think The Boulder is going to win back the belt at Earth Rumble VI." An earthbending student said smugly to his buddy as they walked away.

"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ." The other student replied.

"Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament exactly?" Aang asked as they walked by. They both sneered.

"It's on the island of None'ya. None'ya business!" They laughed as they walked away. Sokka laughed.

"Oh, I gotta remember that one!" He chuckled.

"Come on Red. Let's show those guys." I snickered. Red and I ran after the guys as they walked into an empty alleyway. "Hey, strong guys, wait up!" We walked around the corner and they raised their eyebrows at us.

"We're not telling you, so you can forget it." One of them snapped.

"Oh really?" I prepared to freeze them in ice. Red put her hand up to stop me.

"I can take care of these guys." She whistled. Almost instantly a wolf bat jumped down from one of the roofs and bared its fangs at the boys. They leaped backwards in fright. Walnut was as big as they were.

"Are you ready to tell us now?" Red asked. They sung like a couple of canaries. We raced back to the others. "Are you ready to go to Earth Rumble IV?"

"How'd you get them to tell you?" Aang asked. Red smiled smugly. She let out a shrill whistle and Walnut dropped down beside her.

"Walt has a way with words." She snickered.

"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here." Aang mused, taking a seat. Suddenly a giant boulder flew out of the arena and landed right next to Sokka.

"I guess that's why." Sokka inferred.

"Welcome to Earth Rumble VI! I am your host Xin Fu!" A voice cheered from the center of the arena.

"This is going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara jeered. Sokka smiled.

"That's what I paid for!" He stated smugly.

"Boys." Red and I grumbled and rolled our eyes at the same time. We sat in boredom all night as The Boulder beat up a bunch of guys. Sokka cheered like a wild man. I was surprised he didn't have a sore throat yet.

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for… The Boulder verses your champion The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu announced. Red and I both leaped out of our seats. We were huge fans of Toph. I mean seriously, that girl kicks butt!

"She can't really be blind. Its just part of her character, right?" Katara asked skeptically. Red and I glared at her.

"Oh, she's blind all right. But she's the best earthbender in the world!" Red accidentally blurted out. Luckily, Sokka's cheering made it impossible for anyone to hear her.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind, girl." The Boulder really annoyed me when he continued to talk in the third person.

"Sounds to me like you're scared Boulder!" Toph snickered. Red and I burst into laughter.

"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you in a rockalanche!" The Boulder shouted angrily.

"Whenever you're ready 'The Pebble.'" Toph laughed maniacally. Red and I mimicked her laughter. It took about two seconds for Toph to knock the Boulder out of the ring. It was the kind of moment that someone would miss if they blinked.

"Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu called. The crowd cheered. Red and I screamed. Sokka mourned for the Boulder's loss.

"How did she do that?" Katara inquired.

"She waited and listened." Aang mused in awe. _Yes, Toph is the most amazing person ever._

"To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the blind bandit." Xin Fu challenged. Not one person stepped out of the crowd. "What? No one dares to face her?" Xin Fu jeered.

"I will!" Aang called. He walked into the ring.

"Go, Aang! Avenge The Boulder!" Sokka cheered.

"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" Toph jeered.

"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you." Aang confessed.

"Boo, no talking!" Sokka booed lousily. Katara slapped his arm, Red punched his shoulder and I elbowed him in the gut.

"Somebody's a little light on his feet. What's your fighting name, The Fancy Dancer?" Toph jested. Aang smiled and shrugged. Toph pushed him into the air with another earthbending move. He used his airbending to land safely on the other side of the ring.

"Please, wait!" Aang tried.

"There you are!" Toph exclaimed. She shot a huge boulder at him. He airbended it aside and accidentally blasted Toph out of the ring. The crowd cheered in disbelief. Aang raced after Toph.

"Please, wait! I need an earthbending teacher and I think it's supposed to be you!" Aang begged.

"Whoever you are, just leave me alone!" Toph snapped. She earthbended herself an exit before walking out.

"Wait!" Aang called, but he couldn't earthbend yet. He sadly walked back to the ring and accepted the belt, along with his sack of money. We walked away from Earth Rumble VI and made our way back to the campsite. On the way there, Red and I plotted. We both snickered at one another.

"So he's a little bit of a fixer upper…" Red whispered.

"But this we're certain of…" I replied in another whisper.

"You can fix this fixer upper with a little bit of love!" We both whispered it at the same time. I snickered.

"Time to make Taang a reality." I plotted. Red and I were both Taangers. We ship Toph and Aang all the way!

"Too bad we can't make Zutara happen." Red mumbled.

"No way. Zuko's mine." I defended. "How would you like it if I made your boy fall in love with Katara?"

"I know, I know, but if Zuko isn't going to end up with Katara and Aang isn't going to end up with Katara, then who is?" Red scratched her chin. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

"What is it?" I asked. I couldn't think of a single person who could end up with Katara. I tried to read Red's mind, but not even RWBFFATs could do that.

"Riker!" Red shouted. I covered her mouth and looked at the others. They didn't seem to have heard her. I let go of Red's mouth. "Sorry… I mean Ryuu. It will be just like Zutara, too! Let's call it Rytara!" Red beamed.

"So you think my carefree brother is going to end up with bossy Katara?" I raised an eyebrow. "You're crazy. I asked him who his favorite female character was one time. His answer was 'definitely not Katara.'"

"Its just an idea." Red reasoned. "Think about it, okay?"

"Hey, Aang, wake up!" Red yelled loudly. Aang shot out of bed.

"But I don't want any penguins!" Aang exclaimed, gripping his head tightly. I raised an eyebrow and he tried to pretend that nothing happened. "I mean… good morning, guys!" Aang stretched.

"Okay, we'll talk about the penguin dream later…" I muttered uneasily. I shook my head to clear it. "Red and I got up early and asked around. We know where The Blind Bandit lives."

"You do?" Aang asked, sitting up.

"True shaz." Red nodded slowly.

"That's great!" He jumped out of bed and blasted Sokka and Katara with air to wake them up. "Come on guys, get up! Red and Tikaani found out where the Blind Bandit lives!"

After Sokka and Katara woke up, we led Aang to the house with the flying boar symbol by the entrance. We hid out in the bushes and snuck over to the wall of the estate. Aang easily airbended into the garden, Red climbed over the wall faster than a spider monkey. I had to have Sokka and Katara boost me up because of my poor climbing skills. We lurked around the garden, but suddenly the earth under us shifted upwards, sending us flying through the air. We all landed in bushes except for Sokka who hit the ground hard.

"What are you doing here twinkle toes?" Toph asked with a sneer.

"Aw, you sound so adorable!" Red cooed. Toph pointed at Red with narrowed eyes, but she didn't turn her head away from Aang.

"Who are you calling adorable, canyon crawler?" Toph snapped. I looked at Red. Such an insult would usually offend her. I could tell by the look on her face that she just seemed excited that Toph had given her a nickname. "How did you find me?" Toph asked Aang when Red didn't reply.

"Well a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and-" Aang blurted out. Red facepalmed and I shared her aggravated feelings.

"What Aang is trying to say is he's the avatar and if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord." Katara explained.

"Not my problem!" Toph snapped. "Get out of here before I call the guards!"

"It will be, eventually." I argued. "The Fire Nation army is going to keep spreading throughout the Earth Kingdom."

"Exactly. We all have to do our part to end this war." Sokka added. "And yours is to teach Aang earthbending."

"Guards! Guards, help!" Toph cried. The three of us ran to hide. As soon as we were over the wall and out of sight, three guards ran around the corner of the bush.

"Toph, what happened?" The first guard asked as he ran over to make sure she was all right.

"I thought I heard someone." She whispered innocently. "I got scared."

"You know your father doesn't want you wandering outside without supervision, Toph." The second guard scolded lightly. They walked off. We all looked at each other.

"Let's try a more direct approach." Red suggested. "Let's just walk up to the front gates and ask to talk with her parents."

The Beifong's invited us in for dinner. Afterwards, we were lounging around our room. Aang had just caused a huge mess at the dinner table by sneezing and he'd gotten into an argument with Toph.

"Goodnight buddy." Aang whispered as he scratched Appa's head. He looked at the doorway to see Toph standing there and he screamed before entering a fighting stance.

"Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?" Toph suggested with a hint of boredom in her voice. Aang left his fighting stance. He nodded and walked towards Toph. The two of them left the room. Red nudged me with her elbow.

"Ready to go play matchmaker?" Red whispered. I nodded. "We have to go spy on- I mean use the bathroom." Red told Katara and Sokka in a way that didn't sound suspicious at all. We left the room and followed the two lovebirds. Red found a pipa in a closet on the way there. We hid under the garden bridge as the lovebirds walked by. "Play something!" Red ordered. I snickered.

"POUR SOME SUGAR ON-" I began to screech. Red snatched the pipa out of my hands and banged me on the head with it. "Ow!" I complained.

"Seriously? Something soft!" Red ordered. I peered out to see if Toph and Aang had noticed. Aang was looking around with wide eyes; Toph was snickering and almost laughing. "Never mind, I'll play something." Red grumbled. She strummed the pipa in a light, humble note. "Wasn't really thinking, wasn't looking, wasn't searching, for an answer in the moonlight, when I saw your face…"

The date in the moonlight was actually going pretty well. Until Xin Fu and those other crazy earthbenders showed up. They kidnapped Aang and Toph. We ran for help and all that. When we brought everyone back, we showed them the note that Xin Fu and The Boulder left there. Katara read it aloud, as neither Red nor I could read Japanese.

"If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena." Katara read. "It's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder.

"I can't believe it…" Sokka whispered in disbelief. He swiped the letter out of Katara's hands. "I have The Boulder's autograph!" He cried excitedly.

"Seriously, Sokka? Aang just got kidnapped and you are excited about The Boulder's autograph?" Red criticized. "Fie on thee!"

"Here's your stupid money!" I dropped the sack of gold on the ground and Master Yu pushed it towards Xin Fu with his earthbending. "Now let Aang and Toph go!" I demanded. He motioned for them to lower Toph's cage after counting the money. Toph ran over to her father and hugged him.

"What about Aang?" Katara asked. Xin Fu smiled.

"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the avatar." Xin Fu reasoned, showing us a wanted poster of Aang. "Now get out of my ring!" He ordered, his eyes narrowing in anger. Immediately afterwards, six earthbenders- including Hippo and The Boulder- leaped into the ring.

"Go, I'll be okay." Aang urged. Sokka and Katara backed out of the ring. Red and I exchanged a glance before sighing and deciding to follow. Katara walked over to the exit and called in after Toph.

"Toph, there's too many of them. We need an earthbender. We need you!" She urged. Lao, Toph and Master Yu stopped and turned around.

"My daughter is blind." Lao spat. "She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile! She cannot help you!" Toph pulled her hand out of her father's and turned to face us.

"Yes. I can." She argued, walking towards us. We followed her back into the arena. Lao and Master Yu nervously took their seats. "Let him go! I beat you all before and I'll do it again!"

"The Boulder takes issue with that comment!" The Boulder growled. Hippo dropped Aang's cage. All the earthbenders began to race towards us. Katara, Red, Sokka and I all rushed forward, but Toph held out her arms to stop us.

"Wait! They're mine." Toph smiled maliciously. We stepped back and let her handle the earthbenders while we tried to help Aang escape. Katara and I sliced the bottom of the crate open with waterbending. Then we all sat and watched as Toph knocked out three more earthbenders. Toph cleared the dust. The only earthbender left was Xin Fu. Xin Fu entered a fighting stance. Toph spat onto the ground and I saw her father wince from his place in the stands.

The two earthbenders circled one another. Xin Fu started by firing five Toph-sized boulders at the young girl. She created a triangular wall of earth to reflect the boulders. She sent half of her earth wall forward. Xin Fu leaped sideways. He shoved his hand into the floor of the arena to break his fall before sending another boulder her way. Toph swerved just in time to avert a boulder to her… everywhere. As soon as the danger had passed, Toph shoved Xin Fu out of the ring with a powerful earthbending move.

"She's the greatest earthbender I've ever seen!" Master Yu exclaimed in awe.

"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. And I love being an earthbender. And I'm really, really good at it!" Toph explained to her parents. "I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me. But I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend. So now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change how you feel about me." She finished.

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something." Lao admitted.

"It has?" Toph seemed excited.

"Yes." Lao shook his head slowly. "I've let you have far too much freedom. From now one you will be cared for and guarded twenty four hours a day."

"But dad-" Toph protested. Poppy interrupted her.

"We are doing this for your own good, Toph." She convinced.

"Please escort the avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here."

"I'm sorry, Toph…" Aang apologized as we began to leave.

"I'm sorry too." She whispered. "Goodbye Aang…" Red and I looked at each other sadly. We looked back at Toph to see tears slowly trickling down her cheeks. None of us said a word until we reached the campsite. We began to pack everything onto Appa.

"Don't worry. We'll find you a teacher." Katara coaxed. "There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there."

"Not like her." Aang sighed.

"She's the greatest earthbender in the world." I agreed. Red nodded slowly.

"Ain't that the truth…" She agreed. We climbed into Appa's saddle. Sokka didn't even seem to care. We were about to fly away when I heard someone coming. Aang must have heard it too, because he turned his head to look in the direction that the noise was coming from. Toph ran up over the hill.

"Toph! What are you doing here?" Aang wondered.

"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world." She informed.

"Well we better get out of here. Before your dad changes his mind again." Sokka smiled.

"Good idea." Toph agreed.

"You're going to be a great teacher Toph." Aang complimented. Toph hopped onto Appa's saddle and we rode into the sunset night.


	22. Chapter 21: Ryuu Alone

**Author's Note: This is the most****improvising I've ever done for one chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

Ryuu's POV:

The summer sun beat down from the azure-blue sky. I could feel the heat crawl across my skin like a fire that spread ever so quickly. I tried to wipe the sweat off my forehead, but there was none there. The atmosphere was completely dry, desolate, arid, and any other word that one would associate with the desert. I wasn't exactly in a desert, though. Just a really, really hot place. Some scraggly trees were trying to grow from the tough, hard ground. They didn't seem to be having much success.

_Hog monkeys... This was a terrible idea._ I picked up my water pouch and put it to my mouth, but there were only a few drops left. I popped the lid back on and let the empty pouch fall back against my side. _Why did I ever leave Iroh and Zuko?_ _At least I've still got Uma..._ I stroked the ostrich horse's head as she trudged onwards. I could tell by the way she was walking-very slowly, and with a slight waver every now and then-that she was just as weak and hungry as I was.

As if on cue, my stomach let out a loud, low rumble. I tried to ignore it, but the pangs in the pit of my empty stomach just grew. I clutched my gut, wincing at the pain. I tried to remember the last time I ate. My memory failed me. I couldn't think of when I'd last had a bite to eat, even a little bit.

"Ugh..." I fought to stay awake. I hadn't slept last night. I couldn't because of how hungry I was. I closed my eyes for a little bit and let my head droop, but I snapped it back up quickly. I couldn't afford to fall asleep while I was riding Uma. But I was so tired, and hungry. My vision blurred a little bit as I examined my surroundings again. _Where exactly am I? _I blinked a bit, but it didn't clear up my vision. The exhaustion was starting to sink in. Finally, I couldn't fight it anymore. I closed my eyes and collapsed into a deep sleep.

"Come on, Ryuu, wake up!" I opened my eyes to a white, ice-like ceiling. Everything was so much colder. I just wanted to snuggle into my bed, where the covers were nice and warm. "It's time for training!" A little girl shook me, trying to wake me up.

"Okay, okay, I'm getting up..." I muttered lousily. I tried to wave her away, but she stuck to my side like glue.

"No you're not! Come _on_!" She shoved me as hard as she could. I had no choice but to get out of bed and trudge over to the door of the house. "Ryuu, you're so slow!" She complained as I pulled on my boots. "Why won't you hurry up?"

"I'll take as long as I want!" I snapped back.

"No you won't!" Without another word, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the house. She led me across the ice streets, passed the ice houses, and across the ice bridges. I looked up at the sky, which was a deep, dark blue, and it was sprinkled with stars. I wanted to ask questions, but this must've been one of those dreams that can't be controlled by the person dreaming.

"It's too cold out for this!" I whined miserably.

"Sh!" The girl shushed me. We ducked around a street corner. The girl glared at me. "Someone will hear you!" She stomped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. I opened my mouth as if to say something, but something behind her caught my attention. In an ice house on the other side of the street, I noticed a shadow in the window. Someone was watching us. The shadow ducked away as soon as it noticed I was watching. "Ryuu? What is it?"

"Nothing..." I bluffed. "I was just thinking about how annoying you are." She put her hands on her hips and scoffed at me.

"Stop fooling around! We have to get to the spirit oasis."

"That's where we're training today?" My voice sounded excited and hopeful, though I didn't know why.

"Yeah! It'll be warm there." I smiled at that. Any type of warmth was better than the chilling cold of the tundra.

"If that's the case... Then I'll race you!" I took off as fast as I could.

"Hey!" She shouted behind me, then started running, but I was too far ahead.

The two of us raced through the ice-cold city until we came upon a circular tunnel. We walked through the tunnel and emerged into a large, sheltered expanse of water. The water was warm to the touch. Warm enough that I took off my shirt and swam to the island in the center. There was a small shrine to the spirits placed there. Under that shrine stood two people, a man and a woman. The man had jet-black hair that was pulled back with blue bands, and a braided goatee. He had deep, dark blue eyes. The woman had long brown hair that was braided into three separate strands, one at the back, and one on each of the sides. She had reddish brown eyes that were glaring at the two of us with disapproval.

"You two know you shouldn't be creating so much noise!" She scolded angrily.

"Sorry, mom..." I apologized guiltily while looking at the ground. "Sorry, dad..."

"I suppose it's alright, as long as no one saw you." He looked at both of us sternly. I shuffled a little bit, feeling uncomfortable when I remembered the shadow in the window. But I probably just imagined it. It was nothing to worry about. I managed to hide my doubts before the man and woman-who were apparently my parents-noticed.

"Nope!" The girl, who I could safely assume was my sister, shook her head. "No one saw us! Right, Ryuu?"

"Of course not!" I smiled brightly. The shadow in the window was no more than an illusion. I was still a little groggy, so I must have imagined it.

"Then it's time to begin our training." My mother announced. She waved her arm and as she did so, fire shot through the air behind it. Before anything else happened, my vision began to fade out.

I was waking up, but I struggled to hold on to the vision, to stay asleep for a moment longer. I knew that this had to be more important than just a dream. But my efforts to stay asleep were futile.

The smell of something sweet drifted into my nose. I let out a long, low groan as the tantalizing aroma seemed to envelop me. Slowly, ever so slowly, I managed to blink open my eyes. There didn't seem to be any sort of sun overhead anymore. In fact, I was looking up at the ceiling of what seemed to be some sort of cheap shack. I moaned and sat up, still feeling weak from hunger and exhaustion.

"Are you alright?" I looked up suddenly, as I hadn't realized that I wasn't completely alone. Sitting a few feet away from me was a boy about my age with shaggy black hair, and green eyes. He was wearing the armor of an earthbending soldier. _I've been captured by earthbenders!_ I tried to push myself away from him, but I was too weak. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice my panic. "Drink this." The boy handed me a cup with steam coming out of it. I eyed it skeptically. "It'll make you feel better."

I realized that the sweet smells from earlier were coming from the cup he was holding out to me. _Something that smells that sweet couldn't possibly be poison or anything... Right?_ I tentatively took the cup and raised it to my lips. As soon as I got one taste, I drained the rest of it. It was jasmine tea, my favorite!

"Ugh... What happened?" I rubbed my head. It hurt for some reason. I must have hit it when I collapsed and fell off of Uma. "Uma!" I looked around frantically, but the sudden movement made my muscles ache.

"You were unconscious when I found you. Your ostrich horse is tied out back." He explained. I nodded slowly and settled down. _I must have been so exhausted that I couldn't hold on to Uma anymore, so I fell off, hit my head, and went unconscious._ I remembered that I had a dream while I was out, but I couldn't quite remember what it was. "Are you alright?"

"Just tired..." I rubbed my head again. My stomach rumbled, almost as loud as an earthquake. "And hungry."

"I guess I found you just in time." He routed through his bag for a few seconds until he emerged with a very nutritious looking loaf of bread. "I have some bread." He handed it over to me. "It's not fresh, but it'll do.

I snatched the bread out of his hands and stuffed it into my mouth. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until I ravenously wolfed down the loafly bread. I then looked up at him awkwardly. "Uh... Sorry... I should be thanking you for this." He shrugged as if it was no big deal. "I don't even know your name."

"Name's Sensu." He held out his hand for me to shake it. I did.

"Shen." It was the fake name I'd used last time I'd given someone a fake name.

"Well, Shen, I advise you find someone to travel with. Traveling alone is never a good idea." He advised. I didn't bother to point out that he seemed to be alone too.

"Well, I wasn't really alone. I was traveling with my cousin Lee, and my uncle Mushi." I looked down sadly as I thought of Iroh and Zuko. _I shouldn't have left..._ "We... Got separated."

"Lee?" He raised an eyebrow, let out a long, sad, drawn-out sigh, and stared into space. He looked kind of depressed.

"You okay?" I wondered. He seemed really... Glum.

"Yeah... Lee is my brother's name..." He sighed again, this time even more dramatically than before.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but... What happened to him?" I asked curiously. I wasn't usually one to pry in other people's business, but it wasn't like I had anything better to do at the moment.

"It's alright... I suppose talking can only help." He sighed once again before continuing. "I had to leave my family behind as soon as I was old enough to fight in the war. The soldiers who guard our village needed members for a battalion to fight off the Fire Nation." He sneered when he used the term _Fire Nation_, as if they were the most sickening people on the Earth. "They ordered me onto the battlefield, and it's not like I could just say no."

"I don't mean to pry, but if you left to fight in the war... What are you doing here all alone?" I looked around the empty shack again, just to take in my surroundings. There was a fire place in the middle of the floor. An old teapot hung above the fire from some metal rods poked into the ground around it. On one wall, there was a window with the curtains drawn shut, and a door, which was closed. On the other walls, the windows were open so that the smoke could escape. The house or shack didn't seem to have much else aside from that. I was sleeping on a stack of hay. It didn't really look like anyone else _could _stay here.

"My battalion's been captured." Sensu announced, looking out one of the open windows at the blue sky. "I managed to escape, but the others..." He trailed off and sneered before lowering his head, as if in sadness.

"I'm sorry to hear that..." I admitted. I felt a bit uncomfortable, sitting in front of someone who bitterly hated the Fire Nation. I wondered what his reaction would be if he found out who I really was? I didn't even know who I really was... "Maybe now... You can return to your family." I offered hopefully. He shook his head.

"No." I was surprised by his bitterness, and his refusal. Didn't he want to go back to his family? "The soldiers in our village would just assign me to another battalion. I would make new friends and watch them die on the front lines, like I watched each of my other friends die. I... I can't go through that again." He shook his head slowly, wallowing in the bitter sadness of his situation.

"Do you think your brother is all right?"

"Thank the spirits that he's too young to go to war. If he weren't, I'd probably never see him again..." He looked into the distance. "I just hope that maybe I can survive until the war's over, then I'll be able to return to my family."

I bit my lip and examined the dust on the floor. _I wish I had a family..._

"So what about you?" I was surprised by Sensu's question. "I told you about myself. What's your story?"

"I don't know... I don't really remember anything about my family." I don't know why I was telling him the truth, when I could have come up with a lie just as easily. I guess there was something about this 'Sensu' character that made me want to tell the truth. _It's probably because he fed me._ "I got into an accident that messed up my head pretty badly. When I woke up, Ir-" I cut myself off by coughing frantically. "Mushi. My uncle Mushi and Lee were the only ones there. I don't really remember anything before that."

"That's terrible." Sensu shook his head slowly, unable to grasp the concept of not being able to know his own family. "So how did you get separated?"

_Here's where the lies come in._ "Well, we were attacked by a group of Fire Nation soldiers on komodo rhinos. Each one of them specialized in a different weapon. There was an archer, one with whipping chains, a guan dao-user, one of them used explosives, and the leader was a skilled firebender." They were the Rough Rhinos. I remembered them from one of Iroh's story nights, a daring tale about when he was general and- _Oh, that's besides the point!_ "My uncle told my cousin and I to run while he distracted them. We ran off on Uma, but one of the guys followed us, so we split up. I don't really know what happened to them after that..."

Neither of us said anything for a rather long period of time.

In fact, I think I kind of fell asleep while waiting for one of us to say something...

"I, Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe, hereby banish Rana and her children from the Northern Water Tribe for treason." The voice came from a man with black dreadlock-like hair and two strands hanging down on either side of his face. For some reason, this is where my dream was taking me this time.

The woman from the last dream, who was supposedly my mother, stood beside me. She held my hand and I squeezed it hard. The little girl was standing on the other side of my mother and the man who was supposed to be my father was standing in front of the chief, looking at the ground.

"Mommy?" I moved closer to her. "I'm scared. What's going to happen to you and daddy?"

"Shush, sweetheart. It'll be alright." My mother responded. She gave my hand a comforting squeeze. I moved closer to her, but as the chief continued speaking, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"Derek will be allowed to remain in the Northern Water Tribe, but he will be dismissed from his position in the council. He may remain in the city; only so that the guards will be able to keep a close watch on him. If he ever wishes to regain his position on the council or be able to leave the capital city, he must prove his loyalty time and time again." I could tell that Chief Arnook himself had no decision in the matter. The council sitting behind him were the people who came up with the regulations. "In addition, his children, who are too young to know the gravity of their parents' crimes, would be allowed to return after a time period of ten years, if they so wish.

"If Rana ever wishes to return, she will be met with brutal force and opposition. She will be escorted out of the city, to a small Northern Tribe Village far from here. There she will be provided with a place to stay until a ship can be constructed for her to sail away in." The crowd murmured its agreement at the punishment. I still had no idea what was going on.

"Mommy?" I asked her. My voice sounded extremely frightened for reasons that I did not know. She looked down at me and motioned for me to shush, but I was too confused and afraid to be quiet. "Are they punishing us?"

"Yes." She whispered so that I could just so hear it.

"But why? We didn't do anything wrong!" The little girl suddenly stomped her foot on the icy ground. I realized that tears had started falling down her cheeks. "Is it because you're firebenders? Why does it matter?"

"Hush, child." Our mother whispered it over and over again as she held my sister's hand. She spoke it softly, and the little girl eventually stopped talking. "Sh..." Her voice slowly started fading away...

"Shen." I groaned and turned a little as a voice called out to me. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and start shaking me. "Shen?"

"Ugh... Five more minutes..." I pulled the blanket over my head. _That dream... I had another dream, but I can't remember it! Why can't I ever remember it?_

"You have to get up! There are firebenders here!" I sat up so quickly that I almost felt dizzy. _Firebenders? Are Iroh and Zuko here?_ I stomped out the hopeful look on my face before Sensu could notice. Instead, I made it look like a look of shock and horror.

"How many?" I asked warily. He looked out the window, suddenly going rigid.

"There are five of them, on Komodo Rhinos." My eyes widened. _How ironic. I just tell a lie about my uncle and cousin getting attacked by the rough rhinos, then they show up._ I jumped to my feet and walked over to the window. Sure enough, there were five men on komodo rhinos, each one wielding one of the weapons that I described them having. "Are... Are those the men who attacked you, your uncle, and your cousin?" Sensu asked.

I nodded. "What should we do?" I wondered as I watched them. The man in the lead had a black ponytail with red feathers sticking out of the top. He was wearing a gold nose ring, gold earrings, and gold rings in his mustache.

"We wait." Sensu whispered. Both of us became equally quiet. We watched the rough rhinos slowly stomp through towns.

"Seems abandoned." The man with the chains observed, scratching his chin as he looked around.

The man who was the leader sniffed the air. "Something's not right here." His eyes examined every abandoned building in town. It was almost like a ghost town.

"Maybe one of these houses has an oven where we can bake some cake!" Asked the man with the mask, who-if my memory was correct-liked to use explosives.

"Really, Yeh-Lu? How many times do we have to tell you that _we are not here to bake cakes_?" The man with the arrows and the yu-yan archer tattoos hissed like a ferocious cat.

"Sorry..." Yeh-Lu slumped his shoulders and looked at the ground sadly.

"Besides," The bulky man with the guan dao growled, "You'd probably end up burning the kitchen down, like you always do!"

"Would you quit bickering?" The leader finally snapped as he turned around to glare at the three of them.

"Yes, Mongke..." The yammering fools agreed in unison. As soon as Mongke turned around, they shot each other dirty looks. _Really professional, guys..._

"You know the Fire Lord's orders." Mongke sneered. "Locate as many Earth Kingdom towns as possible and claim them in the name of the Fire Nation."

"But this town is completely abandoned." Yeh-Lu, the man with the mask and explosives, complained. "Why would he want an old town like this? It's giving me the creeps..."

"Oh, man up!" The man with the chains snarled. "You don't here any of us complaining."

"Maybe that's because he'd rather be in a bakery than on a battlefield, eh, Yeh-Lulu?" The bulky dude with the sword mocked.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock it off?" Mongke snapped. "It's like I'm working with toddlers, not highly trained weaponry specialists. Now do as I order and search every single one of these buildings."

I shot Sensu a worried glance. He motioned for me to keep quiet as he walked over to his bed of hay. After shuffling through the straw, he emerged with two broadswords. I recognized them from the ones that Zuko carried around, and the ones that we had used to rescue Aang from Zhao at the Pohuai stronghold. "Dual daos!" I exclaimed.

"So you recognize them?" He handed the weapons to me. I took them by the handles and demonstrated a few basic maneuvers.

"I'm not exactly a master, but I know the basics." I explained.

"For our sake, I hope that that will be good enough." Sensu began shuffling through the hay again. This time he brought out a regular sword. "It seems like the weapons they use are more accustomed for long-range fighting. In order to defeat them, we'll have to wait for them to-"

"I don't think there's enough time for that!" I announced, pointing out the window. Yeh-Lu held up a stick of dynamite and tossed it at a bulding a few houses down from us. It went of, sending fire, smoke, and burning chunks of wood into the air. Within a few seconds, the next house in line caught fire, and then the next. If we didn't evacuate now, our house would catch fire too.

"Come on!" I charged out the back door, slashed the rope that was tying Uma to a post, and leaped onto her back. I looked behind me to make sure that Sensu was coming. He came out of the house and hopped onto Uma behind me. "Ya!" I nudged Uma's side with my heel and she began to gallop away.

"Uh, Shen?" Sensu tapped my shoulder.

"Trying to drive here!" I announced as I kept my eyes focused ahead.

"We have company." Dread filled me to the very core. That couldn't be a good thing. I turned my head ever so slightly to see that three of the Rough Rhinos, the archer with the Yuyan tattoos, the heavyset man with the Guan Dao, and the dark one with the chains were all chasing us. The fact that an komodo rhinos were a lot faster than ostriches didn't really seem like a good thing in this situation.

"Come on, Uma, faster!" I nudged her again, but I could tell I was pushing her limits. She snorted angrily at me as we sped up a bit. I turned around to see that the Rough Rhinos were gaining. Suddenly, a roaring sounded in my ears. I faced forward again. "UMA, STOP!" She skidded to an immediate halt, stopping only a few steps away from the edge of the gorge. A river raged below. Still on Uma's back, we turned to face the rhinos.

"You ain't got nowhere to run... Ain't got nowhere to hide." The big, muscular man with the chains snickered as he began to swing them threateningly over his head. All three of their rhino stomped a little closer. Uma ruffled her feathers, screeching and snorting angrily at the rhinos.

"Sensu?" I looked back at him, but he had already drawn his weapon.

"One step ahead of you." Without another word, he hopped off of Uma and faced the Yuyan archer guy. I leaped onto the ground, facing the bulky guy with guan dao. Uma scrapped her foot against the ground as she glared at the chain man.

We faced our opponents for a few seconds before the real battle erupted.

My opponent lashed out at me with his guan dao, which had a long, wooden handle to strike at enemies who were a fair distance away. I easily guarded myself with my dual swords. The sickening clang of metal against metal rang in my ears. I ignored it and pushed his weapon away from me to protect myself. He sneered and brought it down again, this time from an angle. I ducked to avoid any major enemies, but he swung again just as fast as I had ducked. This time I rolled, jumped to my feet, then into the air to dodge two more swings. With every attack I dodged, I came closer to his rhino. Only too late did he noticed my advance. He tried having his rhino walk backwards, but it was too late. I slashed the strap keeping the saddle in place, and he toppled off. Before he could get up, I slapped his komodo rhino on the behind. It ran off, leaving him in the dust.

While he was preoccupied with chasing his rhino, I turned to see how the others were doing.

Uma, with no armor and no natural weapons, was obviously having a difficult enough time just evading the swings of her opponent's chains. He prepared to swing once more. I jumped in front of Uma and slashed both of my swords towards the ends of his chains. The chains deflected, wrapping themselves around him and rendering him incapable of fighting on. He squirmed to get out of his chains, but he couldn't.

Sensu was very agile, which allowed him to duck and sidestep the arrows with only a little bit of difficulty. He too began to inch closer to his opponent as well. With a few quick movements, some sidesteps, and some swings of his sword, Sensu had defeated his opponents just as I had defeated mine: by breaking his saddle and sending his komodo rhino running off before he could recover.

"Well that wasn't so-"

"Don't speak too soon, boy." Before I could finish my sentence, the other two Rough Rhinos, Mongke and Yeh-Lu, emerged from the bushes. Mongke was holding a man with a bushy brown beard and a bun by the throat. In his other hand, he had started a small flame.

"Dad!" Sensu cried. He made to dash forward, but as he did so, Mongke moved his flaming hand closer to the man's face. Sensu stopped dead.

"So you know this man?" He snickered evilly. "Then we should be able to come to a quick agreement."

"Whatever it is you want, I'll do it! Just let him go!" Sensu threw his sword to the ground without a second thought. I stood by and watched helplessly.

"Your father is aging. He is of no use to the Fire Nation. You, on the other hand, are young and strong." His evil smile became all the more evil as he continued. "A fine material for new soldiers to practice on." He finished.

"I'll do it." Sensu nodded frantically, without even thinking about what Mongke was saying. "Let him go, and take me instead."

"No!" I finally spoke up and raised my arms once again, preparing my dual daos for some action. I was _not_ going to let him do this, no matter who he thought he was.

"And you." Mongke turned his head towards me, that same maniacal smile plastered onto his face. "Ryuu, one of three Fire Nation traitors."

"What?" Sensu glared at me. "What is he talking about?"

I didn't say anything, but in that moment, I knew what I had to do. There was no hiding it from Sensu now. I took a deep breath, felt the heat flow through my body, and I let that heat become _fire_. When I opened my eyes, my dual daos were on fire. I chucked one of them at Mongke. He dropped Sensu's dad onto the ground in his hurry to avoid the flaming weapon, which he managed to dodge, but it did knock him off his rhino and knock out Yeh-Lu. Sensu ran over to check if his dad was all right.

"You just messed with the wrong firebender." I snarled viciously as I let loose an amazing blast of fire in Mongke's direction. His rhino had already been scared off, so he'd lost the dramatic upper hand. He was a firebender too, so he easily countered my flames with an equally, if not more powerful blast. I looked back at Sensu and his father, who were staring at me as if I'd just sprouted wings. "Go!" I ordered. "I'll hold him off, just save yourselves!"

Sensu's father didn't hesitate to follow my instructions, but Sensu stopped to look back at me. I couldn't tell if the look on his face was one of hatred or admiration. Maybe it was both.

"Go!" I called again as I countered another one of Mongke's blasts.

"Thank you…" Sensu said just loud enough for me to hear before he disappeared into the undergrowth.

I knew that the more time I gave him the safer he'd be, so I continued to battle Mongke. I knew I could never win against an experienced firebender like him, but I had to buy some time for Sensu to get as far away as possible. Slowly, Mongke began to advance, pushing me closer to the edge of the cliff until I was almost teetering on the edge.

"Give in?" He held flames in both of his hands.

"Never." I closed my eyes and let myself fall backwards, off the edge of the cliff, and towards the swirling river below. The chilling water enveloped me as I fell into the rapids. _Not again…_ I grumbled as everything began to fade to black. _Not again…_ But just before all the color sucked from my eyes, something—or someone—pulled me out of the chilling water.

"You really thought you could hide it for all these years?" My vision recollected until I was standing in front of Azula. I looked behind me. The little girl waterbender from before was standing behind me, but she was a lot older now. It was Tikaani, the girl traveling with the avatar. But that would mean... She was my... _Tikaani is my sister!_ "You managed to fool my father, but not me. I always suspected you." Azula announced in a rather snotty fashion. She narrowed her gold-amber eyes at Tikaani and I. "And now I can be rid of both you traitors!"

"I can take you on easily!" I growled before turning my head to look back at Tikaani. "Tikaani, run! I'll hold her off!" Her eyes were the color of the sea. I would normally have expected them to be filled with fear, but instead, they were full of bravery and determination.

"I won't leave you, Ryuu!" She refused forcefully.

"Go." I insisted urgently. "NOW!" I could tell that she didn't want to run, she wanted to stay and fight, but she ran anyway. As soon as she was out of sight, I turned to face Azula, the firebending prodigy. She was an assassin who had been sent to get rid of us, but I didn't care. I had to hold her off for a long enough time that Tikaani could find a ship to stowaway on, go to the Earth Kingdom, and hide out there for a while, or something.

"This will be over quickly." She growled as she pointed two fingers straight in my direction. Blue lightning shot across the air faster than I had time to react. The lightning struck me in the forehead in a flash of electric light. I toppled over backwards, off of the ocean bluff and into the salty seawater below.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I laid on the ground with my eyes closed. I didn't bother to open them. All of the visions that I've had over the past few days seemed to be coming back to me. They flashed through my mind, along with other flashbacks that I'd seen before, things that I hadn't remembered until now. Tikaani was my sister. We'd lived in the Northern Water Tribe before being discovered and banished. Tikaani waterbended in public by complete and total accident. We were recognized as traitors by the Fire Nation. When Azula tried to kill us, Tikaani escaped, but I plummeted to the ocean, and she thought me dead. I don't really know how I survived the ocean thing. Maybe I just kind of floated away.

"Ryuu?" A familiar voice said my name. I opened my eyes and sat up immediately, which wasn't really a good idea as pain erupted in my head. "Be careful! It will take a few days for you to recover your ordeal." It was Iroh. He was helping me sit up now. "Drink this." He handed me a cup of tea, just as Sensu had done. I gulped it down. It was so refreshing. _Man, I've missed Iroh's tea..._

"Iroh? How did you find me?" I asked weakly as I laid back down.

"I've been following you and Zuko. Both of you are headed in the same direction, you know."

"Really?" I questioned in surprise, my voice trailing off into a yawn.

"You should get some more rest." Iroh told me. I nodded slowly and drifted once again into a deep sleep.


	23. Chapter 22: Scars

Tikaani's POV:

The sun glittered on the horizon as it began to set. Appa had just landed in a small clearing, where we would be setting our camp for the night. I slid down his tail, landing in a large pile of dirty white hairs that seemed to cling to everything. Appa was shedding heavily, but it didn't really bother me all that much. Maybe I could gather some hair and put it in a sack to make some comfy pillows.

"Tikaani, catch!" Before I could even turn around, a sleeping bag hit me in the back of the head. I looked up and glared at Red, who was flying above the campsite in circles on Walt's back. She snickered mischievously as she lighted down next to Appa. Walt was shedding too, but not nearly as much as the ten ton beast.

"Hey. You guys picked a great campsite. The grass is so soft." Toph mused in amazement as she wiggled her toes through the fluffy white hair.

"That's not grass. Appa's shedding." Sokka announced in annoyance.

"Oh, gross!" Katara whined.

That's not gross! It's just a part of spring. You know, rebirth, flowers blooming, and Appa gets a new coat!" Aang explained. Birds and butterflies fluttered around him peacefully. He smiled a corny, childish smile.

"Ah, the beauty of spring." Katara grumbled sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Beside her, Appa was itching his front foot. He suddenly stopped and lifted his head to let out a ground-shattering sneeze. Hair flew through the air like a snow cloud, then it rained down on us. As if that wasn't bad enough, Appa started shaking his entire body, sending more clouds of hair into the air. "Stop, Appa, stop!" Katara complained, spitting hair out of her mouth. "ACKH!" She grumbled.

"It's not that bad, Katara!" Sokka soothed as he shuffled through the loose hair. He soon emerged with a large mound of it on top of his head. "It makes a great wig!"

"And a great beard!" Aang announced. I sprouted an idea and joined the two of them.

"Not to mention an absolutely _fabulous_ scarf!" I posed like a model as I wrapped the Appa-hair scarf around my neck.

"And a terrible replacement for my arm blades." I looked over at Red, who had wrapped the hair around her arms just like her arm blades. At first, I thought she was serious, but then she started laughing, and we all laughed with her.

"I'm just glad we finally have another girl in the group, because you four are disgusting." Katara confessed as she tried to pick some of the hair off of her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Red and I chorused.

"No offense, but you two aren't exactly the most lady-like."

"Excuse me." Toph interrupted the conversation before it could turn into an argument. "Does anyone have a razor? 'Cause I've got some _hairy_ pits!" Toph cheered, lifting her arms to let white hair pour out from beneath her sleeves. The four of us absolutely lost it, causing Aang to sneeze and slam into Appa. He fell face first into a pile of hair, then emerged laughing wildly. Even Katara started laughing with us. But soon enough, her fun side disappeared back into its hole and she was ordering us to help set up camp.

Sokka and Red always gathered the firewood. Red brought back more than him every single time, which never made Sokka too happy. Aang airbended the tents into place while Katara and I prepared dinner, which was more often than not some kind of soup. While we busted our buts to make the clearing home for the night, Toph lounged by a pile of rocks. Katara looked up at her and narrowed her eyes. She made to walk towards Toph, but I held up my hand to stop her.

"Let me handle this." I stood to my feet and walked over to her. "Hey, Toph. How's it going?"

"Better than it was a few days ago, that's for sure." She replied with a wide smile on her face. There was a weed sticking it out of her mouth that she was moving from one side to the other. It reminded me of Jet.

"That's good to hear. So, how'd you like to help the rest of us set up camp?" I knew from what I'd seen on the episode that Toph had gotten angry with Katara because she thought Katara was trying to baby her. I tried to ask the question in a way that would make it seem completely different.

She shifted a little bit and sat up. There was a surprised look in her blind eyes. "You mean you actually _want_ me to help?"

"Well I don't see why not. You're perfectly capable of helping out around here." I knew it was true from everything I'd seen her do in the episodes. She was one of the best characters in the show!

"But I'm blind." She argued, as if she was surprised to meet someone who didn't think she was helpless and blind.

"So? I think you've already proven that you're not helpless. You fought five master earthbenders at once without breaking a sweat." I had seen the action with my own eyes, and it had been the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. "You can do anything that we can do, and more! Well, except reading and writing, but those things aren't really all that important." It was the first time that I'd ever said that reading and writing was important, and I actually meant it. I couldn't read anything in the Avatarverse because it was all in Japanese! And Sokka hadn't held up on his promises to teach me.

"You're right!" She exclaimed in determination. She slammed both of her fists into the ground. Six rock tents emerged from the ground. One was above her, but the other five were on the opposite side of the clearing.

"She helped Aang pitch the tents!" I announced as I walked back over to Katara, who didn't seem to happy with Toph's tent-pitching skills. Aang and Sokka blinked at the rock tents and grimaced a bit. Red, who was just returning from gathering her firewood, seemed quite pleased with the sleeping arrangements.

"That's not helping." She protested. "And those aren't tents!"

"Of course they are! Look how happy everyone is with them!" I motioned towards Red, who had stuffed her regular tent into the rock tent to use as a blanket. She sprawled out and fell asleep, snoring loudly. Sokka and Aang exchanged a look before copying her idea of using the old tents as blankets. Afterwards, the both of them seemed pretty content with the results.

Katara sighed. "I guess you're right..." She crawled into her own tent. I crawled into mine. It was a lot more comfortable than it looked. I snuggled in, then fell into a deep sleep.

"There's something coming toward us!" Toph's warnings interrupted my slumber. I groaned and sat up, hitting my head on the rock tent.

"Ow!" I complained. Toph swiped her arms and the tents disappeared back into the ground. I rubbed my eyes sleepily as I rose to my feet, and examined the others. Aang rose to his feet quickly, Katara slightly less so, and Sokka very sluggishly. Red remained asleep. "Ugh... What _is_ it?" I wondered. I knew that I knew what it was, but I was just too tired to think clearly...

"It feels like an avalanche... But also not an avalanche..." Toph observed as she felt the ground with one of her hands.

"Your powers of perception are frightening..." Sokka groaned.

"Should we leave?" Katara fretted.

"Better safe than sorry." Aang concluded with a worried expression on his face.

"I'll wake up sleeping ugly." I announced, walking over to Red's still sleeping form. I nudged her a little with my foot. "Red, get up." She didn't move. "RED, WAKE UP NOW." She continued to snore. "Fine, be that way. Walt!" The wolf bat-who was sleeping next to Appa in a pile of hair-leaped to his feet almost immediately. He raced over to Red's side and grabbed the back of her shirt before flipping her over his head, onto his back. She was _still_ sleeping.

After tossing the sleeping bags and unpitched tents onto Appa's saddle, we rose into the air. Walt flew in perfect pace beside us. Red was sleeping on his back, but she wasn't slipping or anything. I noticed that he was moving his wings in a different way, so that Red's body wouldn't shift or move as he flapped his wings, yet he still managed to stay airborne. He was a clever wolf bat.

As Appa rose into the air, we all looked back to see what had been following us. Something black loomed on the horizon, a huge cloud of dust billowing up behind it.

"What is that thing?" Katara wondered in fear.

We flew for what seemed like hours before landing again. Toph gleefully leaped off of Appa's saddle and hugged the ground. Katara yelled at her a bit before completely losing her head. Even with all the noise, Red remained asleep on Walt's back. We set up camp and had only been lounging for a few minutes when Katara opened her big mouth.

"The stars sure are beautiful tonight." Katara mused. Sokka hid in his sleeping bag as if he knew what was coming. "Too bad you can't see them, Toph!"

A grunt and mound of earth came from Toph's rock tent. It hit Katara and sent her flying into Sokka. He pushed Katara off of him. "Hey, how's a guy supposed to sleep with all this yelling and earthquaking?" He shouted at both of them.

"Don't go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong..." I muttered, burying my head deeper into my pillow.

Suddenly, the door to Toph's earth tent opened. She stepped out with one hand on the ground. "That thing is back!"

"How far away is it?" Sokka wondered as he snuggled back into his sleeping bag. "Maybe we can close our eyes, just for a few minutes?" He put the sleeping bag over his head.

"Yup. Let's just stick around until that thing is breathing down our necks." I looked up at the sky. Thick brown dirt mixed with gray smoke. It stained the night sky just over the treetops. They were close. VERY close.

"We need to get out of here now!" Aang called. He airbended everything onto Appa's saddle and we climbed aboard. Appa and Walt both lifted into the air.

"Seriously, what is that thing?" This time, Katara seemed more curious than worried.

"And _how_ does it keep finding us?" Toph growled.

"I don't know." Aang announced over Sokka and Red's snoring. "But this time, I'm going to make sure we lose them."

"Good." I yawned. "Because I think we all need some sleep..."

Aang steered Appa out of the forest and through the mountains, until we finally found a very secluded spot on a nice stretch of rock. Appa flopped onto the ground, sending the five of us tumbling across the ground. Walt landed lightly a little ways away. He still didn't seem the slightest bit tired, which made sense because he was nocturnal. I envied him.

"Okay, forget about setting up camp..." Sokka mumbled as he pulled himself into his sleeping bag. "I'm finding the softest pile of dirt and going to sleep." He wormed away to find his dirt. I curled into my sleeping bag and didn't say anything. Toph and Katara started arguing for a bit, and Aang split them up, but I wasn't paying attention.

"It could be Ryuu and Zuko." I snapped back to attention and decided to join the conversation.

"We haven't seen them since the North Pole! Remember when they kidnapped me?" I laughed and giggled profusely. "Ah, good times, good times..." Katara looked at me like I was insane.

"Who are Zuko and Ryuu?" Toph asked.

"Oh, just some angry freaks with scars who have tracked us all over the world." Sokka explained as he put his face into the dirt in exhaustion. "Anyway, whoever they are, they couldn't have followed us here." He said. "Now could everyone just _shs_?" He asked, putting his index finger to his mouth. Momo bounded over to him and chattered angrily. "No, Momo." He patted the lemur on the head. "_SH_. Sleepy time." He laid down comfortably, but Momo jumped up and down and started chattering again. He walked over to the edge of the rocky expanse and let out a screech. "Oh no, don't tell me!" Sokka cried as he slammed his face into the ground sadly.

"That's impossible! There's no way they could have tracked us." Aang complained. I walked to the edge of the boulder and saw the machine approaching.

"Why don't you tell that to them?" Katara, Sokka, and Aang ran over to the cliffside to see if it was true. Toph made her way over too. We all stood on the edge and faced the caterpillar-like machine. It was advancing over the boulder-ridden terrain as it it were just a normal road.

"Let's get out of here!" Katara urged.

Aang shook his head slowly. "Maybe we should face them, find out who they are. Who knows? Maybe they're friendly."

"Always the optimist..." Sokka griped, hanging his head and slouching a bit. The machine continued to thunder towards us, but we didn't move.

"If we're going to fight that thing, then we need Red!" I announced. I ran over to her and shook her a little bit to wake her. "COME ON, RED!" I was about to give up, but then, I got an idea. "Is that Jet?"

"Where?" She sat up almost immediately, and looked around hopefully. When she realized that he was nowhere to be seen, she glared at me. "It's not even dawn yet!" She looked at me for a few seconds. "Why do you look so tired? You look like you've been up all..." She trailed off and her eyes widened as if she was suddenly realizing something. "This is _The Chase_! We're about to fight Azula, aren't we?"

As if to answer our question, the machine reached our campsite, screeched to a halt, and opened to reveal three girls riding abnormally large lizards that I couldn't remember the name for. It was Azula, May, and Ty Lee. Red stood to her feet and we ran over to join the others. The three Fire Nation girls were just starting to charge at us.

"It's those three girls from Omashu!" Katara observed in panic. When we'd met them in Omashu, they had been one of our toughest enemies to face.

"We can take'em!" Toph announced, preparing herself for a fight. She hadn't been there in Omashu. "Four on three!"

"Actually, Toph, there's five of-" Sokka stopped when he noticed that Red was now awake and ready to fight. The only problem was that she didn't have any weapons besides her own two hands. Meanwhile, Azula had firebending, Mai had shurikens, and Ty Lee had her chi-blocking stuff.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Toph laughed. "I didn't count you two. You know... No bending and all."

"I CAN STILL FIGHT!" Sokka screeched. Toph snickered at his reaction.

"Same with me! I STILL HAVE MY FISTS." Red lifted her fists into the skies, but I could tell that she really wished that she had her arm blades right about now.

"Okay, then, it'll be three on four plus Sokka and Red." Sokka's face contorted with rage and turned the color of a fire truck. If he were a firebender, there would be steam coming out of his ears right about now.

"Fair enough." Red sighed, shrugging as she let her arms droop to her sides. Toph bended three large chunks of rock out of the ground in front of Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, but their lizards just crawled over the rocks with little effort.

"Well, we wanted to find out who they were and we found out." Sokka rushed in a frightened panic. "Now let's get out of here!"

Toph stood her ground. She bended a gigantic wall on the entire hillside in front of us. Powerful lightning blasted through the wall in a matter of seconds. They emerged out of the thick black smoke. Toph stood there in absolute shock. Mai hurled some shurikens in her direction, but she blocked them with a large boulder before hopping aboard Appa.

"Yip, yip!" Aang cried. He lifted into the sky much slower than we had before. Appa was getting tired. I looked over at Walnut. He was finally showing signs of fatigue, flapping a little slower than before. Red couldn't sleep because he could no longer concentrate on moving his wings in that specific way that wouldn't disturb her.

"I can't believe those girls followed us all the way from Omashu..." Katara mused as we flew onward.

"I still think we could have taken them!" Toph snapped. She pulled a grumpy face and looked away.

"Are you kidding me? The crazy blue firebending and the flying daggers are bad enough, but..." Katara trailed off. She looked worried beyond relief. "Last time we saw them, one of those girls did something that took my bending away. That's scary."

"Yeah..." I nodded in agreement. Ty Lee had chi-blocked me too the last time we met. It was a very strange feeling. When she did it, I could feel a strange tingling, and then when I tried to bend, I wasn't able to. It had only lasted for an hour. When my abilities were coming back, I felt the same kind of tingling in my arms. I had been scared even though I knew that I'd get my bending back eventually. "I don't want to go through that again."

"Oh no, the sun is rising!" Sokka whined as he pointed towards the horizon. "We've been up all night with no sleep!"

"Sokka, we'll be okay." Aang tried to reassure in a very unreassuring way.

"Are you sure? I've never not slept before!" Sokka wailed in a very parannoying way. "What if I fall asleep now and something happens-and something ALWAYS happens!"

"You get a hold of yourself soldier!" I shouted, whacking him on the back on the head. "In these difficult times, we must remain dignified!"

"Every time we land, those girls are there. So, we'll just have to keep flying!" Katara cheered jubilantly.

"Hey, brainiac, we can't keep flying forever!" Red called from her spot atop Walt. Now that the sun was rising, it was sapping the energy out of him like water being sapped out of the soil by a plant. She looked down at Walt worriedly.

"So what's our plan?" Aang questioned, yawning loudly afterwards.

"Don't know... Too tired to think..." Toph moaned.

"I'm sure we'll think of something after a short nap..." Katara murmured.

"Yes..." Sokka's voice cracked as he cherished the word. "Sleep..."

"Lucky you!" Red seethed from Walt's back. "I can't sleep on Walt's back..."

"But you were sleeping for half the night when none of us could!" I pointed out jealously. What I wouldn't give for just a few moments of shut eye... I closed my eyes and imagined the beautiful feeling of sleep. Just as I had started to drift off, a huge wind seemed to pick me off of Appa's saddle. I opened my eyes to see that I was indeed off of Appa's saddle. The bison was falling towards the ground. I latched on to the side of the saddle for dear life as we fell.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Toph screamed over the sound of the wind.

"APPA FELL ASLEEP!" Aang replied. We all screamed in terror as the ground sped towards us. Aang climbed along Appa's reins until he was in front of the bison's face. "WAKE UP, BUDDY!" Appa continued to fall and the ground continued to come nearer to us. Suddenly, Appa's eyes opened and he lifted a little, but he was too tired and we were too close to the trees. He crashed into the ground and slid, spinning in circles until he finally stopped at the bank of a river. "Appa's exhausted..." Aang announced.

"No freaking crap, Sherlock." Red sneered as she flew down on Walnut. As soon as they landed, Red climbed off of him. He dragged himself to a pine tree and hung upside down from one of the branches. Red sighed as she watched him sleep, knowing that his moments of shut eye would be brief.

"Okay..." Sokka whispered lousily. "We've put a lot of distance between us and them. The plan right now is to follow Appa and Walnut's leads and get some sleep." He marched off, hugging his sleeping bag as if it were the best thing in the world.

"Of course we could have gotten some sleep earlier if Toph didn't have such issues." Katara pointed her finger straight at Toph-figuratively speaking.

"WHAT?!" Toph screeched, she clenched the ground tightly, causing angry ripples to spread throughout the soft soul. Toph stood to her feet to angrily face Katara.

"Alright, alright, everyone's exhausted." Aang explained. "Let's just get some rest."

"No." Toph argued, shaking her head. "I wanna hear what Katara has to say! You think I have issues?"

"I'm just saying that maybe if you had actually helped out earlier instead of making those stupid earth tents, we would have been comfortable enough to actually get some sleep, AND THEN MAYBE WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS SITUATION!"

"You're blaming ME for this?" Toph hollered in disbelief. She stomped towards Katara. Katara threw her sleeping bag on the ground and motioned for Toph to 'come at me, bro.'

"No! No! She's not blaming you!" Aang stepped in between the two girls.

"No, I'm blaming her!" Katara hissed. Toph shoved Aang out of the way and stormed up to Katara.

"WOULD YOU TWO KNOCK IT THE FREAK OFF?" Red snarled as loudly and as threateningly as she could. "You two have been acting like immature little girls all night, and I'm SICK OF IT. Blaming someone for something that isn't their fault is what I would expect from a toddler, not fourteen and twelve-year-olds! FOR THE SPIRITS' SAKE, MY EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BROTHER ACTS BETTER THAN YOU TWO DO!" I stared at Red in shock. Usually, I would have expected her to be the person who stood and watched with a bucket of popcorn during a catfight. I supposed that she just wanted the two of them to shut up so she could go back to sleep. "Besides, if anyone is to blame, it's Appa!"

"You're blaming Appa for this?" Aang stared at Red in disbelief. He jumped down from his spot on Appa's back to face her.

"Uh, yeah!" Red gave him the 'no crap Sherlock' look. "If he weren't leaving a trail of huge white hairs behind, they wouldn't even know where we were every time!"

"He's leading them right to us!" Toph barked angrily.

"How dare the two of you blame Appa! He saved our lives three times today!" Aang retorted. "If anyone's to blame, it's you!" He pointed at both Red and Toph. In his tired disorientation, he seemed to have forgotten that Red doesn't ride Appa at all. "He never had a problem flying when it was just the four of us!"

"That doesn't apply to me, baldy, I have my own ride!" Red snapped back.

Toph turned away from Aang. "I'm out of here." She earthbended her bag into her hands and started walking off.

"Wait!" Sokka stepped in front of Toph and held out both of his arms. She bended the earth beneath him to easily move him out of the way. He gasped in surprise and looked around as if the simple display of earthbending was the most amazing and incomprehensible thing he'd ever seen. Toph walked away without anyone to stop her.

"Well, that's just great!" I croaked, collapsing onto the ground beside Appa. "First, we lose our ability to fly, then we lose the only person in the world who can teach Aang earthbending."

A long silence passed before Aang realized the full weight of what he had just done. "What did I just do?" He fell to the ground beside Appa. "I can't believe I just yelled at my earthbending teacher... Now she's gone..."

"Hey, you yelled at me too!" Red sneered. Aang didn't respond.

"I know... We were all just trying to get used to each other. And I was so mean to her..." Katara stated sorrowfully.

"Yeah, you two were pretty much jerks." Sokka and I stated at the exact same time.

"Thanks, guys." Katara growled sarcastically.

"No problem!" Sokka replied.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she never wants to talk to you again!" Red observed placidly.

"We need to find Toph and apologize." Katara acknowledged, once again ignoring Red.

"Only one problem: How are we supposed to do that with a tank full of dangerous ladies following us?" Red inquired.

Aang looked at the ground as if thinking about something. He took a handful of Appa's fur and watched it fly in the wind. "I have a plan."

Ryuu's POV:

There was enough room for both Iroh and I on Uma, but the extra weight slowed her down a lot. Luckily, the tank that Zuko was following left an easy-to-trace trail in the dirt. I'd only been reunited with Iroh a day or two ago, and since then, I'd been swimming in an ocean of flashbacks. A lot of them still didn't make sense. I had so many questions that no one could know the answers to, except maybe Tikaani, and I doubt I was ever going to get a chance to talk to her.

Suddenly, a giant rock shot out of the ground right beneath Uma's feet. It sent us skidding and flying across the ground. Uma let out a couple of angry grunts as she stood to her feet. She didn't seem injured, just shaken up.

"That really hurt my tailbone." Iroh complained.

"No kidding!" I agreed. "Where did that rock even..." I trailed off and looked back to see a blind girl standing on the rock that had hit us.

Tikaani's POV:

"Toph was right. Appa's fur was leaving a trail right to us." Aang confirmed as soon as we had finished Appa's bath. Red had taken the liberty to bathe Walt as well. "But now that he's clean, no more trail."

"Are you sure he's okay to fly?" Katara questioned.

"He'll be fine as long as we leave his saddle and all our stuff here. I'll use his fur to make a fake trail to lead them off course."

"What about me? Walt's still in no condition to fly." Red pointed out grumpily.

"You can go with Tikaani, Red, and Sokka. Make sure Walt knows to stay out of sight." Aang cautioned. We all hopped on Appa and flew off. Appa was flying a little low, and he knocked off the tops of some tree branches, a mistake that I knew would end up leading Mai and Ty Lee straight to us.

"Toph couldn't have made it too far." Sokka, Red, and I moved around on Appa's back, scouting every direction for a sign of Toph. After only a minute or two of flying, Momo let out an angry screech.

"What is it Mom-OH NO!" Sokka shrieked when he saw that Ty Lee and Mai were following us.

"It's blade-thrower and bend-blocker!" Red reported as she looked back at the two of them. They were easily keeping pace with Appa on their lizards.

"How did they find us?" Katara questioned angrily as she looked back at them. She snapped the reins to make Appa go faster, but he was too tired.

"COME ON, APPA, YOU CAN DO IT!" I encouraged loudly, knowing that whatever happened, we wouldn't be able to lose them.

"He's too tired!"

"We just need to make it across that river!" Sokka pointed to a raging river below us.

"Or we can land this thing and fight!" Red responded. "It's not like it will matter anyway! Mongoose lizards can walk on water."

"WHAT?" Katara's eyes widened in disbelief.

"So we're agreed. Let's fight!" Red spread her arms and leaped off of Appa's back. The thin, wing-like membrane connected to the sleeves of her clothing allowed her to glide straight down in front of them.

"Appa, down!" Katara ordered. Appa flew to the ground so we could help Red fight. Right now she was doing flips and somersaults to avoid Mai's arrows and Ty-Lee's chi blocks. Katara and I bended some water from the river that we had landed right next to and tried to hurl icy discs towards Mai and Ty Lee. The two ninja chicks easily dodged our attacks. Ty Lee advanced on Katara and I, moving her fists in a flurry of quick motions. Katara and I leaped backwards a few paces to dodge the chi-blocking techniques.

Mai swiped her arm towards us, which sent six flying arrows in our direction. Sokka cut the arrows in half midair with his boomerang. He reached for his machete to stop another arrow from coming at him, but his machete was gone. That's when Red slashed Mai's arrow aside. She had taken Sokka's weapon to use since she didn't really have one of her own.

At that point, Mai and Ty Lee switched opponents so that Mai was now facing Katara and I while Ty Lee was facing Red and Sokka. Unfortunately, I was too busy running from the lady with flying arrows to pay attention to Red's fight. Katara tried to bend some water from the river, but Mai pinned her to the tree with some shurikens. I opened my waterbending pouch and fired a blast of water in Mai's direction, but she ducked under it and fired five of her ninja throwing stars at me. I swerved to the side. One of them passed only a few centimeters in front of my eyes. The others caught my clothes and pinned me to the tree right beside Katara.

"SOKKA, RED, WE COULD USE SOME-" I broke off as the two of them stumbled over to where Katara and I were stuck. They collapsed onto the ground. "Nevermind..."

"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys, it would be more exciting." Mai muttered with absolutely no emotion on her face. "Oh, well... Victory is boring."

"We would have won if we weren't so darn tired!" Red snarled. "And if this perky little misfit didn't completely numb half of my body. In no way does this feel natural."

"Don't make me laugh." Mai didn't look like she was capable of laughing. Before I could call her out on it, a huge gust of wind blew both Mai and Ty Lee into the river.

"Thanks, Appa!" Sokka cheered. "I don't know what we'd do without you!" Appa lumbered over to him and licked him with his gigantic tongue.

Ryuu's POV:

"Here is your tea." Iroh poured the steaming hot delicacy into a cup and handed the strange girl. I looked at her eyes. They were dull, glassy, and unseeing. She was blind. The girl didn't take the tea right away, but he kept his arm held out towards her. "You seem a little too young to be traveling alone." He observed in an almost worried tone.

"You seem a little too old." She retorted, taking the tea. Iroh laughed heartily before pouring me a cup.

"Uh... He's not alone." I pointed out, narrowing my eyes at her. I wondered if she did that on purpose, or if she genuinely hadn't known that I was there.

"I know what you're thinking." She completely ignored me, acting as if I wasn't even there. She was doing it on purpose. "I look like I can't handle being by myself."

"I wasn't thinking that."

"You wouldn't even let me pour my own cup of tea!" The little girl seethed in annoyance.

"I poured your tea because I wanted to, and for no other reason." Iroh assured.

"People see me and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me, but I can take care of myself, by myself!" She vented at us, a bitter tone to her voice.

"You sound so much like Zuko right now!" I exclaimed. Her eyes widened, as if something about that statement shocked her, like she recognized the name or something. I must have imagined it, because a split second later, she returned to her previous attitude.

"My nephew is always thinking that he needs to do things on his own, without anyone's support." Iroh explained further. "There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you." He affirmed. "Not that I love you! I just met you!" The little girl laughed at that statement.

"So, where is your nephew?" She asked curiously.

"We've been tracking him actually." He came clean about our stalker-ish approach to helping Zuko.

"Is he lost?"

"Mentally and physically." I put in.

"His life has recently changed and he's going through very difficult times." I sipped from my cup of tea as I listened to Iroh. I hadn't really put much thought into how Zuko was feeling recently, but I guess he would feel pretty confused about all the crazy things that were happening to us right now... "And he went away..."

"So... Now your following him." The girl finished.

"I know he doesn't want us around right now, but if he needs us, we'll be right here."

"And even though he can be a pain in the butt sometimes," I chortled a little bit at that comment before getting serious, "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him."

"Are you even related to him?" She finally stopped ignoring at me, but she did give me this 'Who in the world are you, and what are you doing here?' look.

"Him and Iroh are pretty much the only family I've got..." I confessed, looking away as I took a sip of tea. I remembered my frequent flashbacks. That waterbending girl who was traveling with the avatar-not the cute one-was apparently my sister. But I'd probably never get another chance to talk to her.

"Well, he is very lucky, even if he doesn't know it." The girl concluded. She stood to her feet. "Thank you."

"My pleasure. Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights." Iroh smiled warmly at the little blind girl.

"No. Thank you for what you said. It helped me."

"I'm glad."

She picked up her bag and turned to walk away, but stopped to say something else. "Oh, and about your nephew... Maybe you should tell him that you need him too." Iroh took a slow sip of his tea as the little girl walked away, as if considering her advice.

Tikaani's POV:

Katara rushed into the building where Azula had Aang trapped. Sokka hid in a nearby doorway with his boomerang. Red hid on a section of roof just outside. I ducked behind a couple of crates and boxes, waiting for the right moment. I watched as blue fire shot from the building and Katara came racing out, followed closely by Azula. She ran by the doorway and Sokka jumped out, slashing at her with his boomerang. She ducked to avoid it, then dashed towards the street, at which point, Red leaped off of the roof and swung Sokka's machete at her. Azula backed towards a stack of empty boxes. I shot an ice disk at her, but she easily twirled to the side to dodge it. Aang emerged from the burning building and the four of us slowly walked towards Azula. She backed up, knowing clearly that she was outnumbered.

Ryuu's POV:

Iroh and I walked over to the unconscious Zuko. He slowly blinked open his eyes.

"Uncle... Ryuu..." He muttered weakly.

"Get up!" Iroh ordered, pulling him to his feet.

"We're going to go deliver Azula the punishment she deserves!" I growled.

Tikaani's POV:

Azula slowly backed into an alley. The ground shifted beneath her feet, sending Azula to the ground. Toph stepped out of the dark alley behind her. "I thought you guys could use a little help." She snickered.

"Thanks!" Katara thanked greatfully.

Azula stood to her feet and made a break for it. She shot fire at us, but Katara and I countered with our water attacks. Azula dashed down a side alley, but as she was looking back to make sure that we weren't catching up, Iroh slammed into her with his belly. Zuko and Ryuu advanced quickly. Azula was backed into a corner. "Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together." She spat with an acidic tone. She slowly put her hands up. "I'm done. I know when I'm beaten. You've got me. A princess surrenders with honor."

For a few seconds, no one moved at all. Azula's eyes scanned us, before they stopped, falling on one weak link. She did a series of flips and turns so quickly that by the time I started attacking, the act had already been carried out. Iroh was laying on the cold ground, knocked unconscious by such a powerful blast of fire. Katara, Aang, Toph, Zuko, and Ryuu all fired their strongest bending attacks at Azula, who shielded herself with a wall of blue flames. The combined moves created an explosion. When the thick cover of black clouds cleared, Azula was nowhere to be seen.

The six of us turned towards Zuko and Ryuu, who were crouching over Iroh's body. We walked towards them, just to try to help, but this angered Zuko. "GET AWAY FROM US!" He cried in a mix of anger, sadness, and pain. Ryuu looked up at us and opened his mouth as if to say something, but he closed it again, then hung his head.

"Zuko, I can help!" I knew my healing powers weren't near as strong as Katara's, but I took the step towards Zuko instead of her.

"LEAVE!" Zuko swiped his arm in our direction, sending a spray of flames directly towards us. We easily ducked to avoid them and the other five started to run away from the spot where Iroh lay. I almost followed them, but when I looked back at the sadness on Zuko and Ryuu's faces, I couldn't leave. Red grabbed my arm as I started walking towards them. She held me back and shook her head, as if willing me not to do it. I yanked myself away from her and walked towards Zuko. Ryuu looked up hopefully. He knew I was just trying to help. Zuko was another story.

"Please, I'm just trying to help!" I was close enough to reach out to him. I found the courage and place my hand on his shoulder as comfortingly as I could. He went rigid. Too late, I realized that I had done the wrong thing.

Zuko whirled around and thrust his fist in my direction. A huge ball of fire hurtled towards me. I held up my hands to block the burning inferno from reaching my face. The forceful blow was enough to knock me to the ground. Tears welled up in my eyes as pain seared through my arms. They shook violently as I held them up to examine the damage that had been done. Burning blisters marked rigid patterns all over my arms. I couldn't use them because of the intense pain. I thought I heard people shouting my name, but the pain and exhaustion that was coursing through me was too much. Everything faded as I slipped out of consciousness.

Ryuu's POV:

"Tikaani!" I cried out as I saw her hit the ground. I stood to my feet and rushed towards her, but her friends were quicker. The cute waterbender and her brother dashed in front of Tikaani. They both looked about ready to attack. Aang took out a bison-shaped whistle and blew on it. Their giant bison came out of hiding, a wolf bat on his back for some reason, and they hopped aboard before flying off. I turned angrily back towards Zuko. I opened my mouth to say something to him, but I couldn't find the words. Instead, I returned to crouch beside Iroh as we quietly wondered what on earth we could do to help him. No answers came...

Tikaani's POV:

"That was reckless." Katara lectured as she began the healing session on my arms. The water glowed with a soft blue light. Relief instantly traveled through my arms and the pain began to sooth. It felt like ice was being spread across the fresh burns. Katara moved her hands in intricate motions. She wavered a little because of the fatigue of staying up all night the night before. We would be going to bed as soon as this session was over.

"Yeah..." I nodded slowly. "I know." I looked away. I thought maybe, just maybe, I would have been able to get Zuko to let me help Iroh... I know Ryuu would have let me. Even from the little I'd seen of them together, I could tell that Iroh was very influential to Ryuu.

"So why did you do it?" Katara questioned.

"Didn't you see the look on his face? Zuko, I mean. He was _devastated_. I thought maybe I could help him..." I knew Katara couldn't possibly understand my feelings for him, so I didn't tell her.

"But he's the enemy." Katara reminded unnecessarily. "He's been hunting us down ever since we met him in the South Pole."

"I know, but... Everyone has good in them somewhere... I thought that if I helped him, I could bring it out... Somehow." I finished, knowing that it was a very weak argument.

"Well now you know: Zuko can't be trusted." Katara replied. She stopped the healing session and I brought my arms out of the water. Even though most of the pain had subsided, faint red marks still covered my arms. "I'll do another healing session in the morning... But I doubt that the scars will ever be completely gone."

"That's all right." I examined some of the red markings. "Sometimes we need scars to remind us of our mistakes. Sometimes we need them to remind us of the mistakes others have made. And sometimes, scars have no purpose but to mark us as something we are not."


	24. Chapter 23: Plotline Plotting

**Author's Note:**

**I am so sorry.**

**I apologize for such the long wait.**

**I know it has been months since I have last updated this, and I sincerely apologize for the long wait, but life kind of happened. A lot has been going on and I have been so busy with a variety of different things. **

**But I am back and I promise to update more often.**

**I'm so sorry... PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!**

Tikaani's POV:

"Today's the day!" Aang cheered as he leaped into the air gleefully. "Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending! And this place! It's perfect! Don't you think?" I didn't know whom Aang was talking too, nor did I care. I only knew that I was _very_ annoyed with him. "Sokka?" I heard the grumpy lump that was Sokka let out an angry grumble. "Oh, you're still sleeping, huh?"

"We're _all_ still sleeping!" I growled as I pulled my sleeping bag up over my head.

"Sorry!" Aang whispered in a very quiet tone.

"Good morning earth bending student!" Toph shouted in a very loud and excited voice. The pieces of her earthbending tent flew in all directions, creating a chorus of loud _booms_.

"Good morning sifu Toph!" Aang greeted jubilantly.

"Hey... You never called me sifu Katara..." Katara complained.

"Well... If you think I should-" Aang was soon interrupted by some loud grumbling and angry gibberish-courtesy of Sokka.

"Sorry, snoozles! We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can!" Toph jammed her heel into the ground and a giant rock shot out of the ground beneath Sokka. The rock shoved him about eight to ten feet in the air. He screamed at the top of his lungs until he hit the ground again, at which point he hopped off, muttering what I assumed to be curse words under his breath.

"So what move are you going to teach me first? Rockalanche? The trembler? Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!" Aang demonstrated the moves in a very zealous, over-excited way.

"Let's start with: move a rock." Toph suggested.

"Sounds good, sounds good!" Aang clapped and nodded at Toph's brilliant plans. She bended two large boulders in front of her and Aang, not even trying to be the slightest bit quiet. I sighed and, realizing that I wasn't going to get any sleep, decided to maybe go off and do my own thing for the entirety of the episode. Of course, I could assume that Red was going to come with me, so I walked up to her sleeping bag.

"Red!" I looked down at the sleeping bag. "Red, wake up!" A loud crashing noise sounded from behind me as Toph demonstrated to Aang how to move the rock. "How can you even sleep with all of this noise?" I nudged the sleeping bag with my foot and a cabbage rolled out of it. My eyes widened. I unzipped Red's sleeping bag and a whole butt load of cabbages rolled onto the rocky ground in front of me. "Walt!" I whistled the whistle that Red always used to call him, but he didn't come. Red was gone. It was then that I noticed a note sitting on the inside of her sleeping bag. The note was written in English. She was the only one who could have written it.

"Dear Tikaani,

Left for a little while. Should be back tonight or sometime tomorrow. Don't miss me.

~Red"

_What on earth could she possibly be doing?_

Red's POV:

"Ugh... I really hate this thing, you know?" I spoke to Walt as we flew through the wide-open skies. Mountains and pine forests stretched below us as far as the eye could see. I was fumbling with the map, turning it right side up and upside down. Japanese letters were written on certain places in the map, but I had no idea what they meant! "Ugh!" I growled in frustration.

Walt let out a long, drawn out howl while we flew. He turned his head back towards me and bark-screeched a couple times. The animals in the Avatarverse always made the strangest sounds. The cat owl is the strangest in my opinion. It lets out some sort of noise that isn't quite a meow, but isn't quite a hoot. Instead, It's a very odd, unevenly fitting mixture between the two common animal noises. It would be too difficult to explain in any other detail, but trust me; it is one of the strangest things I'd ever heard.

"Hey, Walt, can you read this Japanese map and then somehow translate it to English?" I asked as I examined the seemingly endless mountains beneath us. He sneezed. "Didn't think so..." I sighed. "Hey, Walt, do you know if the forest is anywhere nearby? Home?" He pricked his ears at the sound of the word 'home' and let out another howl. "I guess not..." I grumbled.

Walt opened his mouth and screech-barked again. He whimpered a little too.

"Alright, alright..." I grumbled. He was getting tired, and I couldn't blame him. He slept a lot during the day, and barely at all at night. It was very hard to get a proper journeying schedule in because of how different him and Appa's sleeping times were. I felt a little bad for Walt. "We'll land as soon as we find a village. Who knows, maybe someone there can give me directions. Or, if not, the town might at least have a forge where I can blacksmith myself a new weapon! Sound good Walt?" He barked happily, though I doubted he understood what I was saying.

We flew for a while longer, until I saw a small village at the base of one of the mountains. I steered Walt down and we landed just outside the walls. I walked into the village with Walt following close behind. As I walked through the town, I noticed people slamming their doors, closing their windows, and running for cover as if there was going to be a showdown, like in the old western movies. I heard some of the common showdown music playing at the back of my mind.

"This town ain't big enough for the both of us." I whispered under my breath. I spat as hard as I could onto the dirt street. I didn't whisper it loud enough for anyone to hear me. There were a lot of people, but all of them were hiding in their houses. It was a little unnerving, especially since there didn't seem to be any sign of a showdown. "Uh... I come in peace!" I called out. No one moved.

Walt growled under his breath. I patted him on the top of the head and motioned for him to shush. We kept walking.

"This town ain't no place for travelers." I jumped and turned around to see a big, bulky man step out of the shadows. I recognized his face and voice from the episode _Zuko Alone_. He swung his twin hammers in a show-offy way and slowly walked towards me. I tried to back away, but I was stopped short by the wall at the end of the alleyway. _This is _not _good!_

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle?" Zuko crouched over Iroh, trying to wake him up. I sniffed the tea that Zuko had made. I wanted to make some tea, but Zuko had insisted that he make it for Iroh. It smelled a little off, and it was thick and black instead of smooth and dark brown. I took a hesitant sip and forced myself not to cough and sputter at how terrible it tasted. When Zuko wasn't looking, I tossed the cup out the window.

"Ugh..." Iroh groaned a little bit. I put down the cup and looked over at him.

"What is it?" I made my way to Zuko's side to look down at Iroh. "Is he getting up?"

"I don't know." Zuko replied in a very worried voice. Iroh groaned again. "Uncle?" Slowly, Iroh's eyes flickered open. "You were unconscious." He tried to sit up, but winced at the pain in his shoulder. I placed my hand on his back to guide him up. "Azula did this to you. It was a surprise attack."

"Somehow, that's not so surprising." Iroh muttered.

Zuko picked up a cup of tea and handed it to Iroh. "I hope I made it the way you like it."

He took a sip without looking at it or smelling, but as soon as he touched it to his lips, he made a sour expression. His eyes widened and his eyebrows twitched. He had to force the look off of his face before Zuko noticed. "Good..." He croaked. He took another sip, made a disgusted grunt that he passed for a cough, and refrained from drinking more. "That was very..." He trailed off and looked for words, "bracing." He smiled brightly at Zuko, who handed him another cup.

"So uncle, Ryuu and I have been talking..." He turned to pour some tea for himself, at which point Iroh took the chance to pour his out the window behind him. "It's only a matter of time before we run into Azula again. We're going to need to know more advanced firebending if we want to stand a chance against her."

"Yeah... That crazy blue firebending is bad enough. I'm just glad that she didn't use her lightning..." I shivered a bit as I remembered the scar that her lightning had given me, right in the center of my forehead. It was a miracle that I was still alive. Zuko handed me another cup of tea. On normal occasions, he would have flashed me an angry glare along with it, but he didn't. I accepted his tea and just looked into the swirling black liquid. "Uh... Thanks."

"I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her." Zuko muttered. Iroh put his teacup down.

"No. She's crazy and she needs to go down." Zuko seemed shocked that Iroh would agree. He gave a slight nod. Iroh started pushing himself to his feet and I helped him. "Thank you, Ryuu." He thanked before taking a deep breath. "Now, it's time to resume your training; the both of you."

Red's POV:

"What's the matter, little girl?" The earthbending soldier smiled wickedly. "Afraid of little old me?" He took another step towards me. Walt barked wildly and leaped towards the man's face, but the man easily swiped Walt aside with one of the hammers. My wolf bat companion slammed into the wall of a stone building, whimpering as he crumpled to the ground.

"You shouldn't have done that." I growled just as menacingly as Walt had. I was preparing myself to leap at the earthbender man, but before I could, sharp, rocky projectiles shot out of the stone wall behind me. I shouted in surprise, but the sharp rocks whizzed harmlessly passed me and pinned the Earth Kingdom soldier to the wall. I turned around and looked up. A black silhouette of a person stood on the roof of the building. I couldn't make out the figure very well because of the sun, but I could tell that it was a person, and the hair led me to believe that the figure was a girl.

"The Black Ghost..." The Earth Nation soldier breathed in fear. In one swift motion, the figure leaped to the ground in front of me. The shadow of the building behind her continued to mask out her facial features, so I couldn't make them out correctly. In fact, the only thing I could see were her sapphire-blue eyes. "P-please, don't hurt me!" He begged. The dark figure moved slightly. The rocks dug deeper into the wall, and the soldier flinched in fear.

"Drop the hammers." The shadow snarled. Both hammers instantly clattered to the ground. "Good boy." The rocks pinning him to the wall dropped harmlessly to the ground and he dashed off as fast as he possibly could. I turned towards the figure in the shadows and balled my hands into fists. Whoever this 'Black Ghost' chick was, I wasn't going to let her scare me like she'd scared off that soldier. _Seriously, he needs to grow a spine!_ "Don't worry!" She urged calmly, stepping onto the sunlight. "I'm a friend."

I could finally see her clearly now that she was in the light. She looked to be about 13-years-old and she had long brown hair, pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her sapphire blue eyes were quite odd considering that she was an earthbender, but for some reason, I felt I recognized them from somewhere. She was wearing a very odd assortment of clothes. Her shirt was a simple green vest with the Earth Kingdom emblem sewn into the front. Meanwhile, her undershirt and pants were sort of reddish-brown, like Fire Nation clothes. In addition to that, she wore mismatched boots and gloves. Her left glove and right boot were styled like Fire Nation clothes, and the opposites were Earth Kingdom counterparts. I could only assume that she was from the colonies. That was the only place where mixing of the elements occurred. _But if she's part Fire Nation and part Earth Kingdom, why are her eyes blue? And why do I recognize them from..._ I gasped in shock as the realization hit me. I really _did_ know her! "Lola?!"

Ryuu's POV:

"Lightning is a pure expression of firebending, without aggression." Iroh explained as he prepared the tea. I silently thanked the spirits that he had insisted on doing it himself. "It is not fueled with rage or aggression the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire." Iroh took the teapot off of the fire and poured it into three separate cups, one for Zuko, one for him, and one for me. "It is precise and deadly, like Azula. To perform the technique requires peace of mind." He handed both Zuko and I a cup of tea. We were sitting across from him on the other side of the flames, in cross-legged style.

"I see. That's why we're drinking tea." Zuko observed. "To calm the mind."

"And also 'cause it's delicious." I pointed out, taking in a sip. Iroh's tea was the best I'd ever tasted, and probably the best I'd ever taste.

"Oh yeah, good point!" Iroh said to Zuko. He looked away and seemed to realize that that was a goofy thing to say, because he corrected himself. "I mean, yeah." It was an obvious cover up, I didn't really care, and Zuko didn't seem to either. He seemed much more mellow lately. I wondered what the reason for this change in attitude was.

As soon as we had finished our tea, the three of us made our way outside. The house that we had been staying in was stationed on a rocky outcropping that overlooked the town where Azula had injured Iroh. We stood at the edge of the outcropping as Iroh continued to explain lightning to us.

"There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang; positive energy and negative energy." Iroh informed as we looked over the lonely valley. "Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance and in a moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together." Iroh demonstrated his explanation with hand motions. I nodded slowly as I took it all in. _All I have to do to master lightning is separate the positive and negative within myself._ "You provide release and guidance, creating lightning."

Iroh held out his hand, motioning for us to step back. Both of us did so and watched eagerly as he rotated his hands in a circular motion. On each hand, he only held two fingers up, and as he circled his arms, lightning began to crackle at his fingertips. It sparked and jumped all around him until he released it towards the sky. It danced in blue jolts and screamed in a series of endless screeches and crackles as it flashed across the sky. Finally, the lightning stopped.

"I'm ready to try it!" Zuko cried eagerly.

"I think so too." I agreed, nodding confidently.

"Remember, once you separate the energy, you do not control it. You are simply its humble guide. Breathe first." Iroh instructed to both of us. "But don't both try it at the same time. Zuko, you may try it first."

The young prince closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He began to moves his arms in a series of intricate circular motions. I noticed that he was moving a little too fast, or at least faster than Iroh had. At the last second, anger and rage entered his eyes and he shot forward aggressively. Smoke and fire filled the air as what was supposed to be lightning exploded in his face. Zuko slid backwards across the dirt ground. Iroh sighed and shook his head slowly. Then, he turned towards me.

I bit my lip a little bit and looked back at Zuko. _He's going to kill me if I get it and he doesn't_... I observed. I pushed the thought away and took a deep breath, just as Zuko had done. I focused on separating the positive and negative within myself. Without opening my eyes, I moved in the same circular motions that Iroh had, and at the same speed. I felt waves of energy washing into my body from either side, clashing in the middle. I focused on that energy and guided it to my fingertips. I opened my eyes to see the bright blue substance crackling along the tips of my fingers. I pointed my fingers towards the sky and relaxed, letting the energy escape in the direction that I was pointing. The spray wasn't near as impressive as Iroh's, but it was still lightning! I can bend lightning!

Red's POV:

"Sh!" The earthbender girl shushed me frantically. She looked around, as if making sure that no one had been listening. "It's not safe to talk here. And it's Li, at least while we're here." She used her earthbending to separate a slab of rock from the ground directly beneath Walt, thus carrying him without having to hurt him any more than he already was. I worriedly watched him, wondering if he was going to be all right. "He'll be fine." The girl told me as she began to walk away. I followed her with a load of questions on my mind, but I didn't voice any of them. If she didn't think it was safe to talk here, then it probably wasn't.

We walked out of town and continued for about five to fifteen minutes before she stopped. She gently set Walt's slab of Rock on the ground. I watched as she viciously thrust one of her fists towards the ground. A small tunnel opened up, revealing a long, spiral staircase leading downwards. She motioned for me to go in first, then bended Walt's rock chunk after me. Once she too was safely inside, she earthbended the tunnel shut behind us.

"You might want to stand back a little bit." She announced. I wondered what she was doing, but I stepped back anyway. She stood in a horse stance and pushed her arms in one direction, as if shoving someone. The entire earth seemed to shake at that one simple motion. I heard a loud rumbling, but I couldn't tell what rocks she was bending. She rotated her body and the sound of rocks grating against one another echoed through the chamber all around us. When she finally stopped, the staircase that we were standing on didn't seem to have moved or changed at all.

"What did you do?" I asked in confusion.

"I moved the entire hideout. This place is my home. I can't afford to let anyone find it." She announced. I gaped at her in shock. I might not be a bender, but I knew how much raw power an earthbender must have in order to move an entire underground lair without anyone aboveground noticing.

"How are you going to find it again?" I questioned further.

"The badger moles who raised me taught me how to sense vibrations in the earth." She explained as she led the way down the earthy stairs. "My boots don't have bottoms. I can sense the vibrations better that way."

I opened my mouth to ask about the badger moles, but then, a more important question struck my mind. "What are you doing here, Li?"

She stopped where she stood a few steps ahead of me. "Do you think I know any more than you do, Shyanne?" I hadn't heard anyone speak my real name since Tikaani spotted me in the episode _Jet_. I looked at the ground. Li was right. I had absolutely no idea why I was here either. "I don't even know _how_ I got here. There was this storm that came out of nowhere… I stepped outside to look for Coko, but when lightning flashed, I woke up in the Avatarverse." She turned away and started walking again. I followed her.

"Really? That's the same way Tikaani and I ended up here!" I replied in shock. I had been mowing the lawn during the incident. The storm came out of nowhere, and I'd been on my way back inside. Something happened, and when I blinked open my eyes, I was in Jet's forest with the other Freedom Fighters. A series of flashbacks had filled me in on my backstory, and I kind of just hung with Jet and the others until I found out that Tikaani was here too. "BTW, name's Red in the Avatarverse. :P" I added.

"Tikaani? Kandace is here too?" Li's eyes widened. "Where is she?"

"She's back with Team Avatar." She sneered a bit at the mention of Ryuu's name.

"You guys are traveling with Aang?" She asked in shock. "Then you must know what episode it is by now, because I have absolutely no clue…"

"It's the episode Bitter Work." I explained. She nodded slowly.

"That's the one where Toph trains Aang, Sokka gets stuck in a hole, and Zuko cries on top of a mountain, right?"

"Yeah." I chuckled a little bit at the 'Zuko crying on top of a mountain' comment. Tikaani would probably be jumping to his defense right about now.

"We're here." Li announced. The staircase had ended at a solid rock door. Li swiped her hands and the door disappeared into the ground. I walked in a gasped as I looked around at her hideout. It was like an entire world made of rock. There was a rock house, some rock trees, and rock bench sitting in front of a nice little pool of water. Next to the bench was a rock bin with metal weapons jutting out of it.

"OMG, this place is so cool!" I announced as I ran over to examine the weapons.

"Yeah… I get really bored down here…" She sighed.

"Why don't you join Team Avatar with me?" I wondered, looking back at her curiously. Her, Tikaani, and I have always talked about what we would do if we went to the Avatarverse. Tikaani always said that she'd win Zuko's cold heart. I always said that I'd save Jet. Li always talked about getting all of her ships together… Zutara, Taang, Sukka, Smellershot (BEST SHIP EVER), etcetera. I could see the conflicts in that, though, considering that Tikaani wanted to end up with Zuko, so obviously Zutara wouldn't be able to happen…

Li shook her head. "I don't think so, Red. I don't really like the idea of messing with the plot more than I have to. Now if you don't mind, I have a question for you. This is the episode _Bitter Work_, right? So what are you doing here? Like in this specific town?"

"Oh... Well, I was looking for a forge to blacksmith a new weapon, but this town obviously doesn't have one... And then Walt got injured... I doubt I'll be able to fly back..."

"I can help you out with both of those situations. First, that spring right there is a spirit pool, like the one in the North Pole. Turns out there are actually about four or five spirit pools in the entire world. One's in the north. The other is frozen under deep ice in the South Pole. There's one in the Fire Nation, although I'm not sure where. Obviously, there's this one right here, which I stumbled across by accident. There might be one deep in one of the air temples, but it could have been either destroyed in the war, or possibly poisoned by The Mechanic." I listened intently.

"And you know all of this how?"

"I've been talking to some firebending avatar who looks like Jafar in my spirit pool. He said this one used to be his favorite before an earthquake buried it. It was an earthquake that he caused, by accident, and it trapped him underground. Then, when he tried to earthbend himself out, but there was a large deposit of metal above him that crushed him. He's kind of been stuck in his little pool ever since." Li explained. I frowned and looked over at the pool, but no one was there. "He went to go take a nap. He can make himself visible and invisible at will inside the pool. I'm sure he won't mind if you put Walt in there for some healing." She bended Walt's rock slab over to the side of the pool. I made my way over and picked up the humongous creature before setting him gently in the spirit water. I made sure that his head was resting on the shore of the pond so he wouldn't drown or get water in his highly sensitive bat ears.

"So you said you had solutions to both of my problems? Do you know of a forge where I can create a new weapon?" I inquired as I patted Walt on the head. I wondered how far away the forge was, and if I'd ever be able to make it without Walt. He was sleeping now.

"You might want to sit down." Li cautioned, snickering as she looked back at me. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she wouldn't elaborate further. Still, I decided it was best to sit. Li turned away and cracked her knuckles. She held out both of her hands, and then slowly curled them into fists. The ground she was aiming towards crackled and crumpled as she formed the fists. Slowly, they started dissolving until an immense lake of lava swirled and smoked in front of her. My eyes widened.

My mouth dropped open in shock. "You're a lavabender!"

"Learned from Jafar." She replied, sniggering.

"Would you stop calling me that?" An angry voice growled from the spirit pool. "And get this filthy mutt out of my spirit water!"

"Not exactly the most polite avatar, is he?" I questioned, laughing a little bit.

"What would you expect from an avatar named Jafar?"

"NOT MY NAME!"

Ryuu's POV:

Another explosion echoed through the air and Zuko was blasted backwards across the dirty ground. He let out an angry growl of distress and puffed smoke out of his nostrils.

"Why can't I do it? Instead of lightning, it just keeps exploding in my face! Like everything always does..." I honestly felt bad for him. Zuko had been through a lot of hardships recently.

"I was afraid this might happen." Iroh stood to his feet and walked over to Zuko. "You will not be able to master lightning until you have dealt with the turmoil inside you."

"WHAT TURMOIL?" Zuko stormed angrily, his eyes narrowing to slits.

"Zuko, you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away." Iroh advised.

"And maybe take a nice, deep, calming breath. And some tea. Tea always helps." I put in my two coppers as I took a sip from my cup. Zuko glared at me with the most threatening look I had ever seen him give, except for that one time we got into an argument the day Azula invited us to the Fire Nation. He then faced Iroh again.

"But I don't feel any shame at all. I'm as proud as ever." He responded impatiently.

"Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but it's source. True humility is the only antidote to shame." Iroh continued.

"Well... My life has been nothing but humbling lately." Zuko grumbled. I snorted a little, then looked away when he gave me another glare.

"I have another idea. I will teach you a firebending move that even Azula doesn't know. Because I made it up myself." He pointed his thumb towards himself. Zuko smiled, a rare occasion. I wished that I could learn the move two, but I suppose it wouldn't be fair if I knew two of Iroh's moves, and Zuko could only learn one. _Yeah, I'll just sit this one out. _

Red's POV:

I swung my battle axe back and forth, switching it from hand to hand just to test it out, get a feel for it. It felt pretty sweet. Not as natural as my arm blades, but the axe was very easy to swing. Not only that, but I could click a button at the base to have the axe split into two halves.

"Why two halves?" Li asked as I displayed another array of fancy swings and slashes. "It isn't enough to have just one?"

"Well, you know what they say. The only thing better than a weapon is two. The only thing better than two weapons is two weapons that can combine into one." I snickered evilly as I examined my deadly axe-blades. "Oh, sweet mama, I can't wait to use these in actual combat."

"Just as violent as ever." Li observed, shaking her head slowly. "Now get on out of here! Walt's getting restless from sleeping all day." The spirit water had done wonders for him.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with?" I asked cautiously. "And why don't you want me to tell Tikaani?"

"Yes. I have important things to do around here. Talk to Jafar, make tea, practice my earthbending until I'm better than Toph..." She shrugged. "The uzh. And I just don't want Tikaani to freak out and come looking for me, okay?"

"Alright, then..." I sighed. "Can you just... Open a hole in the roof or something?"

"Ugh... Fine. I'm going to have to relocate again afterwards, you dummy." Li stuck her tongue out at me playfully. I laughed as I climbed on Walt's back. She opened a hole in the ceiling.

"Up!" I cried. Walt flapped his wings and we lifted into the air. We flew through the hole and lifted into the night sky, heading in the direction of Team Avatar's campsite.

Ryuu's POV:

"Excellent! You've got it!" Iroh congratulated after they had been practicing the redirection technique for quite a while. I'd almost fallen asleep. This move was a generally boring one, but I had been listening and doing the motions with them while I watched. It might be important later on, especially if I ever faced Azula again... There was no way I was going to take another strike to the head now.

"Great! I'm ready to try with real lightning!" Zuko exclaimed.

"What? Are you crazy?" Iroh raised an eyebrow at Zuko. "Lightning is very dangerous."

"I thought that was the point," Zuko argued furiously, "you teaching me how to protect myself from it!"

"Yeah, but I'm not going to shoot lightning at you!" Iroh protested, backing away from Zuko and shaking his hands frantically. Zuko's face contorted with rage. I took a sip of tea as I watched the scene unfold. The angry ex-prince looked in my direction and stomped towards me.

"Do it!" He ordered furiously. "Now!"

"Are you insane?" I shook my head frantically. He couldn't possibly _want_ me to fire gigantic volts of life-threatening blue electricity in his direction for the point of training, could he? Before I could do anything to stop him, Zuko grabbed me by the front of my shirt and glared into my eyes.

"You are going to shoot lightning at me. That is an _order_." He seethed with the venom of a weasel snake.

"Enough!" Iroh put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko tensed at first, but then released me. I stumbled a little bit before gaining my footing, at which point, I sat back down on the stairs and took another sip of tea to calm myself. If Iroh hadn't intervened, I swear I would have fire punched Zuko right on the old noggin.

"Well if neither of you will help me, then I'll find my own lightning!" Zuko growled. He hopped on his own ostrich horse before riding off in the direction of a nearby mountain. Storm clouds hovered on the horizon. Iroh closed his eyes sadly.

"I'm sure he'll be fine..." I tried to comfort Iroh. "Tea?"

Without saying a word he sat down and joined me as we waited for Zuko to return.

Tikaani's POV:

I looked up at the stars as I lay on top of my sleeping bag. The other three had already fallen asleep, but I wasn't tired. I'd been chilling in a hot springs all day, which hadn't exactly been the best idea ever, because now I was anything but tired. That wasn't the only reason I couldn't sleep. Red still hadn't turned up, and I didn't have the slightest idea of why she had left, or where she was. I really needed to talk to her, too. My alone time today had gotten me to thinking, and I needed to talk to her.

"You waited up?" I jumped and sat up, then looked around. Red was standing on top of a large boulder that was somewhere behind me. She was swinging a pair of dual axes.

"Where were you?" I asked in a whisper, not wanting to disturb the others.

"I was making myself a new weapon." She replied. "You like?"

"They look dangerous." I pointed out.

"Thanks." She snickered mischieviously. She jumped off the boulder and landed on the ground, then made her way over. She clicked the two half-axes together to form one big axe before placing it on the ground next to her sleeping bag. She sat down. "So... Did Toph's training with Aang go well?" She raised her eyebrows to demonstrate that she wanted to know if anything ship-worthy happened.

"Well, he can earthbend now. So, yeah." I muttered a little bit.

"That's not what I meant." Red rolled her eyes. "I meant... Did they seem closer? Like they like each other closer?"

"I wouldn't know. I was in the hot springs all day." I sighed in an almost sad way and looked off.

"Are you alright Tikaani?" She wondered in a very worried sort of way.

"What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine!"

"But usually you'd jump at the chance to talk about our ships!"

I sighed again, this time deeper than before. "I don't know anymore, Red. I had a lot of thinking time today."

"That's never good." She put in. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself. So what were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about da ships. Taang, especially. What happens if they get together, huh?" These thoughts had been bothering me all day. "What happens to Tenzin? And Lin Beifong? How would the Legend of Korra be affected by the changes we're making?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll still have kids named Lin and Tenzin, right? Maybe Bumi II will be an Earthbender!"

"You aren't thinking about it, Red!" I growled in exasperation. "Lin Beifong is bitter because she doesn't have a father. Imagine if Aang was her father instead. Her personality would be so different! She wouldn't have dated Tenzin, for one, which is one of the reason's she's so cranky. If she had a completely different personality, how would that affect the LOK?"

Red looked down at the ground, almost sadly. "I... I never thought about that before..."

"I didn't think about it until today, either... I was thinking that even though we ship Taang and anti-ship Kataang, we might have to let Aang and Katara be together. Otherwise, we could inadvertently alter the plotline of LOK_._ I simply couldn't imagine Lin being the same way with different parents. Not only that, but Lin and Suyin have different fathers. If Toph and Aang got together, they would either have the same father, which would be Aang, or Toph would cheat on Aang, thus ripping their family apart. Imagine how Tenzin and Bumi would turn out if that happened? It would have an impact on them as well..."

Red sat there for a while without saying anything. "And Kya II. She wouldn't exist."

"Exactly! Can we really mess with the plotline _that_ much?" I looked at her, searching for the answer.

"I think..." She trailed off and took a deep breath. "That as long as we're here, we need to mess with the plotline as much as we possibly can."

"WHAT?" I gaped at her. Even though we'd end up messing with the LOK, she still wanted to change the plot?

"Think about it, Tikaani. We were transported to the Avatarverse for a reason." Red declared as she explained what she thought. "We don't know what that reason is yet, but while we're here, we might as well make the most of it, don't you think?"

I shook my head a little. "I don't know, Red. That sounds like a really _bad_ idea to me..."

"So... What you're saying is that you don't want to end up with Zuko?"

My eyes widened. "Of course I want to end up with Zuko! That has absolutely _nothing_ to do with what we're talking about!"

"Yes it does. If you end up with Zuko, won't that mess up the plot?"

I lay there for a while without saying anything. Red was right, and I knew it.

"Okay... I guess you're right." I finally agreed. "Tomorrow, we'll keep messing with the plot."

"Yay, Tikaani's back!" She whispered triumphantly. I smiled before looking back up at the stars. I could finally fall to sleep in peace.


	25. Chapter 24: Gone

Tikaani's POV:

"What's out here?" Sokka asked, looking around at the seemingly empty plains. Holes littered the ground all around us. I sighed. This was the most _boring_ vacation ever. Of course Aang would pick a spot like this to vacation in.

"A lot, actually." Toph answered as she felt the ground with one of her hands. "There's hundreds of little-"

"Sh!" Aang shushed. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise! Just watch!" Aang held the flute to his mouth and blew. A little strange gopher creature popped its head out of the ground and copied the exact pitch of the note. "Hahaha, yeah!" Aang cheered as if it was the funniest thing in the world. He played another note and another gopher popped out of another hole. He lifted his hands into the air. "I'm putting an orchestra together!"

"Orchestra, huh?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Well la-dee-da." Three more gophers popped out of the ground and mimicked Sokka. Momo leaped into the tunnels to chase after them. Aang continued to play and Momo followed the gophers. It was actually a little bit funny. Katara was laughing harder than she should. Before long, Sokka became extremely annoyed and plugged his finger into Aang's flute. "This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about?"

"Oh, come on Sokka!" Red whined loudly. "We've been traveling and training for _days_. I think it's safe to say that all of us deserve a break! These mini vacations are just what the doctor ordered! Toph's meetup with the badger moles was _awesome_! Tikaani's trip to that strange lake with the dragon fish was... Deadly..."

"I didn't know that there was any such thing as a dragon fish, okay?" Red had been hounding me about it for days. The strange dragon-fish hybrid would have eaten her if Katara and I hadn't stepped in to save her. She should at least be grateful for that!

"We don't have time for vacations!" Sokka protested.

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with Toph, Katara, and Tikaani. I've been training my arrow off!" Aang argued defiantly. He did seem a bit more tuckered out than usual, which is probably how I'd beaten him in waterbending training the last time we had a session.

"Yeah! What's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Katara inquired as she stepped forward.

"Even if you do master all the elements, then what?" Sokka completely ignored Katara's question. "It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation! Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house? Knock, knock! Hello, Fire Lord, anybody home?" Sokka did a series of motions as he continued to criticize Aang. "I don't think so! We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war!" Katara giggled a little bit.

"Okay. We'll finish our mini vacation, then we'll look for Sokka's... Intelligence." Katara laughed. The rest of us joined in the laughter.

"Good luck finding that, after it's been missing for sixteen years!" I chuckled.

"What are you talking about, he never had it in the first place!" Red joked. Sokka glared at us.

"Ha, ha, very funny." He growled sarcastically.

"Okay, your turn Katara! Where would you like to go on your mini vacation?" Aang held the map up for her to look at.

"How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing!" Katara pointed towards the spot on the map.

"Oh, yeah, I've been there! It's a pristine natural ice spring! And... I usually don't use the word pristine!" He smiled happily at Katara. I gagged a little bit. Thankfully, the only ones who noticed were Red. And Toph. "It's one of nature's wonders!" But when we arrived, the only thing there was a small little chunk of ice in the center of town and some run down buildings. "Must've changed ownership since I was here..." Aang observed awkwardly as he looked around. "Hehe..." As soon as we began walking into the town, the sign hanging out front broke down and shattered.

"Talk about run down..." I muttered half to myself and half to Red. She nodded in agreement as we walked past what was left of the icy spring. We continued on and walked into a stone building that had a bunch of guys dressed as mummies out front. I knew they were sandbenders, but those mummy outfits sure gave me the creeps. One of them spit at Red's feet and we had to drag her into the saloon after us so she wouldn't axe the guy's head off.

"One mango, please." A man asked the bartender. The bartender took out some swords and sliced a bunch of mangos with a few quick motions before handing the man his mangos.

"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." Sokka mused as he stared hungrily at the fruit. He shoved us aside and ran up to the counter. "Excuse me!"

As we made to follow him, Aang accidentally bumped into the man who had just ordered the mango. "No worries!" Aang exclaimed. "I clean up easy!" He airbended all of the liquid mngo out of his clothes.

"You're a living relic!" The man, who was wearing heavy backpacks and a huge sun hat, exclaimed as he examined Aang.

"Thanks. I try." Aang shrugged.

"An air nomad, right in front of me. Professor Zei. Head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He shook Aang's hand before examining the arrows. "Tell me. Which of the air temples do you hail from?"

"The southern temple." Aang replied, looking a bit unsure of himself now. Professor Zei took out a tool to measure the size of Aang's head. He was studying the poor kid as if he were an artifact!

"Oh, splendid! Tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"

"Uh... Are fruit pies an agricultural product?" Aang wondered.

"Oh, truly fascinating! That is one for the journal." Zei concluded. I narrowed my eyes and stomped over before swatting him away from Aang.

"Seriously, you can't just go around studying human beings like they're some sort of artifact that should be put in a museum!" I hissed.

"So sorry!" But he didn't seem sorry at all. Unbelievable!

"You're obviously a well traveled guy." Sokka observed. "Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated."

"Certainly!" Professor Zei replied. He routed through his large backpack until he emerged with a map. Sokka took it and examined it.

"What, no Fire Nation?" Sokka complained. "Doesn't anyone have a good map of that place?"

"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." Katara observed.

"Almost as if you have a reason for going there..." Red narrowed her eyes at him even though she already knew what his reason for going into the desert was.

"Ah, yes! I've been searching for the crown jewel of lost civilizations. Wan Shi Tong's library. "

"You spent years walking through the desert... To find some guy's library?" Toph ridiculed, raising an eyebrow and sniggering at the strange Professor Zei.

"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady." Professor Zei pointed out. He seemed to be entering a dream-like trance just thinking about the library. "It is said to contain a vast array of knowledge. And knowledge," he paused in order to stress his point, "is priceless."

"Mmm... Sounds like good times." Toph mumbled sarcastically.

"Ugh..." Red growled irritably. "We've got better things to do than sit around and talk about some old library!"

"It's too late for that now!" Sokka argued. "Aang, I'd like to spend my vacation AT THE LIBRARY!"

"What about me?" Red argued. "When do I get to pick?"

"When we're done at the library." Sokka responded quickly. Red pouted. Her and I both knew that that vacation was never coming.

"Of course there's the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert, and almost died each time." Professor Zei didn't seem the least bit phased at the fact that he almost died every time he'd gone looking for the library. "I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross..."

"Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" Sokka offered, smiling widely.

"A sky bison!" He exclaimed. "You actually have one?" He looked like he was going to start fanboying all over us.

"Yes!" Sokka nodded vigorously. "And if we take Appa into the desert, we'll find the library for sure!"

"There it is!" Toph suddenly shouted, pointing off into the distance. Everyone minus Red and I actually looked. "That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it." She waved her hand in front of her dull, blind eyes. We flew on for another long while before Sokka spotted something in the distance. We landed and got off of Appa's saddle to examine it.

"Forget it!" Katara said as she looked at the strange tower thing, then back at the map. "It's obviously not what we're looking for. the building in this drawing is enormous."

"Then why is that fox here in the middle of the desert?" Red asked as she pointed towards the peculiar, fox-like creature. It ran straight up the side of the building and through one of the windows.

"Oh, we must be close to the library!" Professor Zei announced gleefully.

"Um... I think that _is_ the library." I pointed out. "Except that it's kind of been completely buried underground."

"The library is buried?" Zei cried in distress. "My life's ambition is covered in sand!" He fell to his knees in the dust. "Well! Time to start excavating!" He took out a tiny shovel and started digging out the sand.

"Actually, that won't be necessary." Toph placed her hand on the wall of the library so she could see the inside. "The inside seems to be completely intact. And it's huge."

"That fox thingy went in through a window." Sokka said. "I say we climb up there and give it a look."

"You guys can go ahead without me." Toph muttered.

"You've got something against libraries?" Katara questioned, placing her hands on her hips dramatically.

"I've held books before, and I've gotta tell ya... They don't exactly do it for me."

"I'm staying out here too." Red announced. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you want to see all the books. It's going to be amazing in there! I've never seen a library so big before!"

"Japanese." Red whispered under her breath to remind me. I was confused at first, then I realized what she was trying to say. "Besides... I am _not_ letting the sandbenders take Walt."

"You coming or not, Tikaani?" I turned to see that the other four had already started climbing the rope.

"Coming!" I looked back at Red. "Good luck." I then climbed after the others, in through the library window. Sure, I wouldn't be able to read the books... Er... Scrolls. But I might find a children's scroll to teach a child how to read! Maybe I'd be able to learn Japanese!

"Oh, it's breathtaking!" Professor Zei gasped as we climbed down into the library. The spirits spared no expense in designing this place! Look at those beautiful buttresses!" Everyone except for professor Zei laughed. He looked up at us, confused. "What's funny?"

"Nothing. We just appreciate architecture." Aang chuckled.

"As do I..." Zei agreed in fascination. We reached the end of the rope and stood on the sturdy stone bridge. "My word!" He proclaimed, racing over to examine a picture of a black barn owl. The professor went off in a ramble of a bunch of scientific jargon that none of us understood. He stopped short, looking awkwardly at our blankly confused expressions. "Uh... Nice owl." He translated.

A sudden swishing noise filled the air. We hid behind some of the buttresses-snigger- and waited. None of us dared to peek as footsteps echoed across the chamber. "I know you're back there." A deep voice announced. We exchanged a nervous glances, but no one stepped out.

"Hello!" Professor Zei greeted joyfully. He was the first to step out. "I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se university!" I poked my head out and watched as Zei bowed respectfully to a giant owl spirit.

"You should leave the way you came." The owl hooted angrily. "Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."

"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked as he too stepped out of hiding. The rest of us followed him.

"Indeed." Wan Shi Tong was very creepy looking. He was completely black, except for his face, which was pure white, like an owl version of Slenderman. But he had eyes and a beak, so I guess he wouldn't really qualify as Slenderowl. He had the creepy part down, though. "I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things, and you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study."

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked as he stepped forward a little.

"Hm. Humans only bother learning things to get the advantage on other humans. Like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So," Wan Shi Tong lunged forward to stare Sokka straight in the eye, "who are you trying to destroy?"

"What? Oh, no, no, no, no destroying!" Sokka shook his hands frantically back and forth. "Not into that." He finished casually.

"Then why have you come here?" He pressed. He pronounced the h in 'why,' even though it was supposed to be silent.

"Uhm..." Sokk awkwardly looked around. "Knowledge for knowledge's sake?"

"If you're going to lie to an all knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it." Wan Shi Tong hooted in disgust.

"Ooo, ooo, let me give it a try!" I shouted. "We all came here to look at maps of the Fire Nation so that we can end the war that's been going on for a hundred years."

"That lie was quite... Convincing. Almost enough to be true." Wan Shi Tong narrowed his eyes at me.

"What?" I gasped. "That was _totally_ a lie! I'm with the avatar," I grabbed Aang and pulled him over to stand in front of me, "he's the bridge between our worlds, he can tell you what a good liar I am!" I nudged him in the back.

"Um... Yeah, she's... good." Aang looked up at Wan Shi Tong. "We will not abuse your knowledge, good spirit. You have my word."

Wan Shi Tong stood to his full height to examine us. "Hm... Very well. I will let you peruse my vast collection. On one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."

Professor Zei was obviously the first to cough up the entry fee. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library." He presented the heavy book on one knee.

"First edition. Very nice." He swept over the book with his wing, thus accepting it.

"I have an authentic waterbending scroll." Katara announced as she held out the map for Wan Shi Tong.

"Ooo... These illustrations are quite stylish." He accepted this gift as well.

While Aang pulled a wanted poster of himself out of his clothes, I searched myself frantically for something, anything.

"I suppose that counts." Wan Shi Tong muttered as he accepted the poster. He turned to Sokka. I continued searching for my worthwhile information, but the only thing I could find was the letter Red left me yesterday. It sparked an idea and I quickly borrowed a pen from Professor Zei and started scribbling.

"Oh, great spirit, check this out!" Sokka cheered as he stepped forward with a strand of quality rope that he had been keeping ever since he saved Aang and I at the North Pole. He tied the rope until it was in the shape of a dragonfly. "Tada!" Wan Shi Tong just stared at him like he was the stupidest person in the world. I finished what I'd been writing and handed the pen back to Professor Zei. "It's a special knot! That counts as knowledge!"

"You're not very bright, are you?" Wan Shi Tong questioned as he narrowed his beady black eyes at Sokka. Sokka groaned, but Wan Shi Tong still accepted the knot before finally looking at me expectantly.

"My friend and I invented our own alphabet." I announced handing him the piece of paper. He swiped his wing across the paper and examined it closely.

"I have never seen such writings before. Enjoy the library." With that, he swept into the air and flew away.

"Did you and Red really write your own alphabet?" Aang asked in shock.

I shrugged. "It's actually more of an unspoken language."

Red's POV:

I chilaxed in the shade of the giant library, leaning against the wall of the tower. Walt was positioned protectively on my lap. Toph was sitting in the sand beside Appa. She looked extremely bored. "You bored?"

"Yeah." She replied in a tough-mannered way. I remembered in the episode how she'd started talking to Appa. There was no way she'd ever do something like that while someone else was around.

"Me too." I looked out across the desert, but there was no trace of the sandbenders.

"Looking for something?" Toph raised an eyebrow.

"You can never be too cautious." I continued scanning the horizon. "I will always remain vigilant."

"We're in the middle of a desert." Toph sniggered. "You're crazy if you think someone's going to attack us out here."

"Anything can happen. And if it does, I'll be ready."

Tikaani's POV:

"Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things!" Aang exclaimed as he showed a picture of one to Katara, Sokka, and I. Sokka was completely disinterested.

"Eh, I've seen weirder." He announced, waving at it with his hand. He walked away.

"Hey, Aang, did you know that in a past life, you were left handed?" Katara mused as she examined one of the scrolls.

"I always knew I was special!" Aang smiled widely. I sighed with boredom.

"I'm probably just going to go check out other parts of the library." I declared, standing to my feet and walking down the row of books and scrolls. "There's something I've got to find before leaving this place."

"Okay, but don't go too far!" Sokka cautioned as he tucked a scroll into his bag. "We don't want anyone to get left behind."

"Alright." I agreed, rolling my eyes. I hoped he knew that I didn't plan on doing that at all. I traveled through the aisles of books, looking for one of the knowledge seekers. Finally, I spotted one of the foxy little critters putting a book away. As soon as he finished, he went back onto all fours and turned to walk away, almost bumping into me in the process. "Sorry!" I apologized for standing in his way. "I was wondering if you could help me find a book or a group of scrolls teaching me how to read..."

The little fox creature immediately hurried off in certain direction. I followed him through rows and columns of scrolls and books until he stopped at one particular shelf and brushed one of the books with his tail. I picked it up and flipped through it, pleased to see that there were pictures to go with the Japanese symbols, so I could learn a lot easier. Maybe I'd also get a little bit of reading help from Katara or Aang. It would just be too weird with Sokka, after what had happened in the Cave of Two Lovers... But Aang and Katara didn't know my secret and I wasn't keen to tell them about my inability to read. I stashed it in my shirt because I'd forgotten to ask Red to borrow her bag.

"Okay... Now I need something to practice on, maybe a child's scroll, or-" I stopped short as a loud rumbling seemed to shake the entire library. Ear-splitting screeches were followed by screaming. "The library's sinking already?" It had been such a short time since we'd come in. I didn't think that Wan Shi Tong had discovered them so quickly. With no time to spare, I grabbed a random scroll off the shelf and hurried off.

Red's POV:

I scanned the heaping mounds of desert dunes for dust clouds in the distance. Walt was now napping on Appa's head. We were in the shade, but in a different position. We had to move every once and a while to stay in the tower's shade. Right now, both Toph and I were leaning against Appa. Suddenly, Appa shifted and let out a huge roar. Walt fell off of his head and shook himself, then howled and barked frantically.

"I already told you, I don't want to-"

"The library's sinking!" I cried as sand and dust rose up all around the library's base.

"Library sinking?" She shifted her feet and turned in the direction of the library. "Library SINKING!" She cried as she ran over and shoved both of her fists into the library's solid rock wall. She groaned with the effort of keeping it up.

"D***, I wish Li were here!" I hissed under my breath as Toph began to sink into the sand. She let go of the library and hardened the ground beneath her into rock, then she reaffirmed her hold on the giant stone building. She groaned painfully with the effort. "Hang-" I was about to tell her to hang in there, but Appa roared in distress before I could. I turned around to see dust clouds on the horizon. "Uh... Toph?"

"What is it _now_?" She asked in annoyance, turning her head a little bit.

"Sandbenders." I ran over to Walt, who was barking and howling madly. I detached my battle axe from his saddle and took off the thick leather blade coverings. I disconnected them and swung them around as I prepared myself for my first real fight with the new weapons. "I'll take care of them! Focus on the library!" I told her.

The sandbenders swirled their arms around, cloaking Appa in a thick cloud of swirling sand. I ran into the cloud to try to stop them. Sand bit at my skin and stung my eyes, but I ignored the pain. _No one_ was going to take Walt _or_ Appa. Not if I could stop it. Walt beat his wings furiously, but it wasn't enough. With a flick of Appa's tail, however, all of the sand had cleared and I could see clearly. Sandbenders had us completely surrounded. They were swinging ball and chain-like weapons, except with ropes and sandbags. They threw the weapons at Appa, but I easily sliced the ropes in half.

"If you want this beast, you're going to have to get through me!" I snarled. The sandbenders exchanged glances with one another. I couldn't see their eyes through those sand-resistant goggles, or their mouths through the clothes that cloaked their bodies.

"Get her out of the way, then we'll deal with the bison and the wolf bat!" One of the sandbenders croaked. I let out a loud yell of rage and raced forwards, but as I did so, the sand sucked me downwards up to my chest. Slowly, I felt myself going downwards. The sandbenders had trapped me in quicksand!

Walt let out an angry howl of annoyance. "Put a muzzle on him!" One of the sandbenders leaped on his back and clamped his mouth shut. He then tied a cloth around Walt's mouth. I watched as two more sandbenders tied him up while the rest of them wrangled Appa. I didn't move. I knew the quicksand would suck me down faster if I did.

"Toph, do something!" I begged as the sandbenders started hauling them away. She turned around and shot sand in four random directions, but the sandbenders were long gone. The library made frantic progress to sink, so she jabbed her hands back into the library.

"I'm sorry..." Toph whispered under her breath.

Tikaani's POV:

I snatched various scrolls and books from their spots on the shelves as I ran by. By the time I reached the center of the library, where we'd come in, Sokka and Katara were climbing up the rope and Wan Shi Tong was passed out on the library floor. "Go, go, go, go, GO!" I cried, stepping on Wan Shi Tong's head as I made to climb up the rope.

"I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long-"

"OKAY, LET'S LEAVE HIM." I shouted up to Katara and Sokka. "NOW GO!" The two of them began climbing, but not fast enough. Wong Shi Tong grabbed the end of the rope and grappled with it. We shook from side to side, then began to fall. Right when we were headed towards Wan Shi Tong's snapping beak, Aang swooped down on his glider and grabbed us. We flew out the open window and out of Wan Shi Tong's grasp, landing roughly on the sandy ground. Aang, of course, lighted down gently and looked around in confusion. Toph finally let go of the library and it sunk away forever.

"A little help!" Red called. I looked over and gasped in shock to see her neck-deep in quicksand. Toph bended her out halfheartedly before slumping to the ground. Red followed her lead and crouched in the burning sand. I looked around. Neither Appa nor Walt were anywhere to be seen.

"We've got it!" Sokka cried, completely oblivious to what was going on. "There's a solar eclipse coming!" He hugged Katara as hard as he could. "The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"

Aang stood to his feet and looked around. He walked towards Toph and Red. "Where's Appa?"

Toph had her hands clasped around her ears. She shook her head slowly.

"I'm sorry, Aang..." Red's voice cracked and she wiped tears from her eyes as she said it.

Aang's eyes widened as he looked at the two of them. Tears welled up in his eyes and poured down his cheeks. Appa and Walt were gone.


	26. Chapter 25: Cactus Juice

Red's POV:

"How could you let them take Appa? Why didn't you stop them?" Aang demanded angrily as he glared at Toph and I. It seemed more like he was shouting at Toph specifically.

"I couldn't, the library was sinking, you guys were still inside, and-" Toph tried to defend herself, but Aang stomped over to yell in her face.

"You could have come to get us! I could have saved him!" Aang argued bitterly. I stepped in between him and Toph.

"Would you knock it off?" I glared at Aang as hard as I could and shoved him away from her. "TOPH SAVED YOUR SORRY AANG TODAY, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HER?" I hadn't felt this angry since Katara and Toph had been fighting a couple episodes ago, but this was different. My anger wasn't caused by sleep deprivation. It was caused by Aang's angstiness. "We did everything we could to save Appa and Walt!" I tried to fight the tears that welled up in my eyes as at the thought about Walt being missing. I hoped he was all right, he had to be... "If we could have saved him, we would have, but..." I looked down at the ground and turned away, hoping that no one would notice my tears. "It wasn't enough..."

I turned my head when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Tikaani seemed almost as sad as I did. She gave me a comforting hug that only an RWBFFAT could pull off. I smiled a little bit before pulling away. "Thanks for the comfort, but... I'll feel a lot more comfortable when we get Walt back." I turned away and looked into the desert.

"Who's going to save our lives now?" Sokka wondered as he looked off into the storm of swirling sand. "We'll never make it out of here."

"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves!" Aang snapped viciously. "You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" He walked away from the rest of us and sat on the sand without looking back.

"Of course we care about Appa! But if we don't make it out of this desert alive, we'll never have the chance to find him." Tikaani pointed out. I had to admit that even though Tikaani was often immature and crazy, like me, she could also be mature and serious when it really mattered.

"No." Aang growled. "I'm going after Appa _now_."

"Aang, wait!" Katara tried to run after him, but he had already taken to the skies in his glider. "We better start walking." Katara mumbled. "We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse!"

"Really? That's what your worried about?" I criticized. "Not, oh, I don't know… MAKING IT OUT OF HERE ALIVE?"

"You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride?" Sokka wondered aloud.

"You mean the one that tried to kill us?" Tikaani raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so."

"Elephant rats…" He cursed under his breath as the five of us trekked into the desert.

Ryuu's POV:

Iroh let out a strangled cry of pain every time Zuko's ostrich horse made a move. Uma and I followed them, and even from back here Iroh's groans were getting annoying. It sounded a lot like he was just faking it. He probably just wanted to rest so we could make some tea.

"Maybe we should make camp." Zuko grumbled irritably.

"No, please..." Iroh mumbled weakly. "Don't stop, just for me." He sounded absolutely pitiful. Zuko glared at him before going on. Iroh clutched his wounded shoulder and wailed loudly in Zuko's ear. Zuko immediately stopped his ostrich horse. Iroh climbed off of it and moseyed over to a rock before plopping down on it.

"I'll get some tea ready!" I offered, stopping Uma and tying her to a tree. I turned to walk away, but Uma started letting out a series of distressed grunts. "What is it, girl?" As if to answer my question, a team of five rhinos came barreling out of the forest and had us surrounded in a couple of seconds. I looked around to see that atop one rhino was a man in heavy armor with a facemask that carried around a bag of bombs. Atop some of the other rhinos sat a tall, bulky man with long hair, a braided beard, and a guan dao and a muscular dark-skinned man with a braid and some chains. On another rhino there was a guy with flaming arrows and some sort of bird tattoo on his face. The final rhino was home to the leader of the group, colonel Mongke. "Not you guys again…" I hissed under my breath.

"Colonel Mongke! What a pleasant surprise!" Iroh smiled warmly at the hostile pony-tailed man.

Colonel Mongke narrowed his eyes at us. "If you're surprised we're here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps." He swiped his arms together so that the spikes on the metal bands would clash and create sparks. All of the other rough rhinos prepared their weapons.

"You know these guys?" Zuko asked in disbelief as he looked around at them.

"Colonel Mongke tried to capture me after I left Iroh." I accused, shooting Mongke the most hate-filled glare I could muster. "Plus, Iroh used to talk about them all the time during music nights on the ship."

"Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary." Iroh went on to explain more. "Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist, but they are also a very capable singing group. That, and Yeh-Lu makes the best cakes in the Fire Nation!"

"You really think so?" The man with the facemask asked. His helmet muffled his voice, but I thought he sounded hopefully optimistic, and at the same time almost disbelieving.

"Of course!" Iroh chuckled.

"We're not here to give a concert!" Colonel Mongke barked madly. "Or bake a bunch of terrible cakes! We're here to apprehend fugitives!"

"Would you like some tea first?" Iroh questioned. I had to admit that although I did admire general Iroh, he really shouldn't be thinking about tea or pleasant conversation at a time like this! "I'd love some. How about you, Kahchi?" He looked at the man with the guan dao. "I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?" Kahchi stared at him blankly without saying anything.

"Enough stalling!" Mongke sneered. "Round'em up!"

The first one to make a move was Mr. Ball-and-chain, who aimed straight for Iroh. Iroh easily deflected the chained weapon. It wrapped around the leg of Kahchi's rhino, which was right in front of me. I took the chance and ran towards his rhino. He jabbed towards me with the guan dao. I jumped and the long weapon became stuck in the ground beneath me. Then, I ran up the weapons wooden handle and kicked Kahchi in the face before flipping over him and slapping his rhino on the behind. His rhino took off, and because the chain was still wrapped around it's leg, it dragged the dark-skinned chain-user along with it.

I turned to see if Zuko was doing all right. An arrow was flying towards him, but before I could warn him he skillfully chopped it in half with his bare hand. He then shot a tiny bullet of fire through the bow and the string, rendering the Yuyan archer's weapon completely useless.

Iroh pushed me aside as a fireball flew towards us. He easily deflected it with his own firebending. I reminded myself that I should pay more attention to my own part in the battle from now on. Mongke was blasting fireball after fireball in our direction. We dodged easily, but with his constant firing, neither of us found an opening to attack. Luckily, Zuko managed to sneak up from behind and swipe Mongke off of his rhino. Iroh hopped aboard his and Zuko's ostrich horse, which they hadn't tied up yet. I looked over at Uma to see that she was going crazy, so I ran over as fast as I could.

"Come on, Uma!" I hopped aboard and burned the rope in half. There was no time to untie her. I turned her around and dashed after Iroh and Zuko, but Yeh-Lu stepped in my way with his rhino. It was too late to stop, and I couldn't go around. "Uma, jump!" She kicked her powerful legs off of the ground and leaped into the air. Yeh-Lu had to duck to avoid getting kicked by one of her legs as we soared over them. "Who said ostrich horses can't fly?" I shouted as we landed and joined Iroh and Zuko as we sped off. I looked back and gasped to see a bomb coming in our direction. "Bomb!" It landed right in front of us and black smoke filled the air, but we all managed to get out completely unscathed.

"It's nice to see old friends!" Iroh shouted above the sounds of panting ostrich horses and wind in our ears.

"To bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you." Zuko scoffed as we continued to ride off. Iroh looked thoughtful for a few moments.

"Hm… Old friends that don't want to attack me…"

Tikaani's POV:

The arid atmosphere of the desert completely engulfed us. Sand stretched in all directions. I couldn't see any signs of life anywhere, other than us. Katara was in the lead, Sokka and Toph were following, but Red and I were lagging majorly. Ahead of us, Toph accidentally bumped into the slow-moving Sokka.

"Can't you watch where you're-" Sokka cut himself off as he suddenly seemed to remember that Toph was blind.

"No." She stated matter-of-factly.

Sokka rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Right… Sorry."

"Come on, guys, we've gotta stick together." Katara said as she looked back at us. Red and I were just catching up to the others. "Come on, you two keep it up!"

"But… We're so thirsty!" Red complained. I nodded slowly in agreement.

"And if I sweat anymore, I don't think sticking together will be a problem." Sokka replied as he tried to detach himself from Toph with much difficulty. She easily shoved him aside.

"Katara, can I have some water?" Toph asked. We had all agreed to use Katara's water first, and then mine.

"Okay, but we've gotta try to conserve it." She announced as she bended five small bubbles of water into the air. Momo, Toph, Sokka, Red, and I savored what little we could get. That would be it until Sokka found the cactus. I've always wanted to try cactus juice. I realized that Katara didn't take any for herself.

"We're drinking your bending water?" Sokka questioned while he tasted it. "YOU USED THIS ON THE SWAMP GUY!" He cried hysterically.

"Actually, she used the water that was already in the swamp on the swamp guy." Red pointed out. Sokka nodded.

"Right, right… YOU USED THIS ON THOSE GIRLS FROM OMASHU!" He tried again.

"Well, I'm sorry, it's all we have." She concluded.

"Not anymore!" Sokka cheered, pointing. "Look!" Red and I excitedly followed his gaze to the small desert cactus.

"WE'RE SAVED!" I cried as I ran over to it. Red gently cut off a piece with her humongous axe. She handed one half to me and held the other half for herself.

"Guys, wait, you shouldn't be eating strange plants!" Katara protested. Sokka had already started on his juice and by the looks of it, Red and I only had a few seconds to swallow ours before she confiscated the cactus.

"Cheers!" We banged our cactus halves together and guzzled down the surprisingly delicious juices inside.

"There's water trapped inside these!" Sokka exclaimed. Red and I drank some more cactus juice. We were going to get _so_ hyped up on this stuff.

"I don't know…" Katara withdrew from Sokka's outstretched cactus.

"Suit yourself. It's very thirst quenching though." He smiled joyfully. Suddenly, his smile disappeared and he started drooling rainbow and sunshine. "Drink cactus juice! It'll quench yah! Nothing's quenchier! It's the quenchiest!"

"Okay, okay, o-o-o, okay, I think you've ha-h-h-had enough-ough-ough-ough." I could barely make out what Katara was saying. Was she trying to rap or something?

"YOU THROW DOWN, KATARA!" I cheered. I started doing the Opan Gangnam Style dance. For some reason, Katara didn't like my dance because she pushed me into the ground before I could finish it. Then I realized that the real reason was because Red had sprouted helicopter-choppy-thingies from her head and one of them had almost beheaded me.

"Red! R-r-r-reD! Put that-P-p-put that aXe down. D-d-down. Axe down." Katara pointed her finger at Red and shot a laser beam out of the tip. Red fell over and landed limply in the sand.

"NO! YOU KILLED HER! YOU MONSTER!" I ran over to Red's body and shook her, but she didn't wake up.

"That's sand. S-s-s-sand." Katara told me as she pulled me to my feet. As soon as she said that, Red's body turned to sand. I looked over at the real Red, who was trying to get her axe back from Toph, who was on fire for some odd reason.

"Who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka inquired curiously.

"CAn I et SoMe oF that c-C-c-AcTuS?" Toph pleaded with Katara, who gave a flat out no. She led us all off in an odd direction, except for Sokka, who was staring at the ocean like he'd never seen water before.

"How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean?" He wondered in awe.

"WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SPACE, NOT THE OCEAN, YOU MORON." Red screamed. "ECHO!"

"C-c-c-come on, GuYs!" Katara stammered along. "We need-nee-ee-ee-ee-eed to go find A-a-a-AaNg." She dragged us across the desert sand, over mountains of golden pyramids and sparkling diamond jewels. I wondered why she wasn't taking any of it along with us.

"I'M WALKING ON SUNSHINE!" Red screeched at the top of her lungs.

"Would you kn-kn-knock if oFf?" Katara snapped. Red opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, a giant explosion came from somewhere behind us. I turned around to see this humongous mushroom looming on the distant horizon. "What is that?"

"What-wh-wh-what is what?"

"It's a giant mushroom!" Sokka gasped, spreading all five of his arms into the air.

"MAYBE ITS FRIENDLY!" I cried as I too spread out all five of my arms.

"Let's just k-k-keep mov-muh-muh-muh-moving." Katara advised as she once again dragged us across the mountains of treasure. Red stayed behind, dancing in front of the mushroom.

"FRIENDLY MUSHROOM! MUSHY GIANT FRIEND!"

Ryuu's POV:

"No one here is going to help us!" Zuko seethed as I ordered another squashed banana for my next ice cup. This place had great service. It was too bad that the ice oasis out front was so close to melting. This place would probably go out of business as soon as the ice was gone. "These people just look like filthy wanderers."

"Look at yourself, partner." I commented. I was leaning back in my chair with my feet propped against the table. I tipped the waiter as he brought over my third or fourth banana ice fruit thing. Zuko glared at me. "In fact, all three of us look like filthy wanderers."

"Which is a benefit to us, as of now." Iroh pointed out placidly. I nodded in agreement. It would definitely keep us disguised from anyone who actually looked at the wanted posters that we encountered in almost every single town we went to. "Ah..." I looked up from my banana to see Iroh focusing on something over Zuko's shoulder. "Well this is interesting." He was pointing towards a man in the corner sitting in front of a Pai Sho board. "It seems I've found our friend."

"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?" Zuko hissed in annoyance. Iroh smiled and stood to his feet.

"I don't think this is a gamble." He smiled and strutted confidently over to the Pai Sho board. Zuko and I exchanged equally confused looks before following Iroh to confront the man at the Pai Sho table. "May I have this game?" Iroh questioned the stranger.

"The guest has the first move." He waved his arm over the table and waited. Iroh took his seat and placed a white lotus tile at the center of the board. I watched intently. Iroh had schooled me in the ways of Pai Sho. I could tell that the battle between two experienced players would be a fought not so easily won. "I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways." He bowed respectfully to Iroh.

"Those who do can always find a friend." Iroh replied calmly.

"Then let us play." The stranger responded. He placed another tile on the board. I watched curiously as the two of them took their turns. Each of them placed their tile in a specific spot. A picture began to unfold on the Pai Sho board. Eventually, all of the tiles were arranged in the shape of a lotus. "Welcome, brother. The white lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets." The strange opponent smiled at Iroh. I realized that the two of them were speaking in some sort of code. I vaguely remembered Iroh telling me that Pai Sho was more than just a game, perhaps once or twice when he was teaching me the basics. Perhaps this is what he had been talking about...

"What are you old gasbags talking about?" Zuko bursted angrily.

"I've always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game." Iroh snickered and made the tile he was holding move between each of his fingers, barely moving his hand as he did so. _Okay... Secret code plus Pai Sho plus white lotus equals..._ I surveyed the information in front of me, but I didn't have enough evidence to form a proper conclusion.

"It's over!" A loud, enraged voice called across the room. The four of us turned our heads to see a very bulky man with straight black hair and what looked like some sort of wrestling clothes stomped over to us. An upper-class, sophisticated-looking man in official robes was following him. "You fugitives are coming with me!"

The strange man that Iroh had been making friendly conversation with only moments before suddenly faced us with hostility. "I knew it!" He pointed his finger in our direction and blocked off the two bounty hunters from reaching us. "You two are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!"

"I thought you said he would help!" Zuko jeered as him, Iroh, and I backed up against the wall. I had to agree with him on this one. At first I thought they were being friendly with one another, but now this stranger had turned hostile.

"He is. Just watch." Iroh advised. I looked around the room to see that peopled were turning there heads. I realized what was going on. _He's creating a distraction!_

"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold?" Within a few seconds, people were standing out of their seats to face the men who had called us out.

"Uh... Maybe we shouldn't." The official-looking one muttered cautiously. The bulky one snickered and turned to walk towards us. That one action sent the entire place into absolute chaos. Sand and rocks flew around the room, bodies skidded across the floors. In the chaos, it was rather easy for us to slip out completely unscathed. In the shadows of the night, we followed the strange and slipped through town virtually unseen. The man led us to a building that I couldn't see right because of the darkness. The inside was lined from wall to wall with flowers, pots, watering pails, and various other garden supplies. I could safely assume that this was a flower shop.

"It is an honor to welcome such a high ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus." The strange man dipped his head respectfully to Iroh. "Being a grand master, you must know so many secrets. I observed their behavior. _Okay, okay, I can figure it out this time. White lotus plus Pai Sho plus secret code talk equals... A secret society of old people!_

"Now that you've played Pai Sho, are you going to do some flower arranging, or is someone in this club going to offer some real help?" Zuko stormed as the two of us followed Iroh and the stranger to a door at the back of the room.

"You must forgive my nephew. He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts." Iroh explained, completely ignoring Zuko's outburst. The strange man continued the ignorance and knocked on the door. The peephole at the top slid open.

"Who knocks at the garden gate?" The man on the other side asked. It was some kind of riddle that Iroh was supposed to answer to get in.

"One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries." Iroh answered in a monotone voice. The door opened to let us through. I hung back as the others walked towards the door. Iroh and the strange man walked into the brightly lit room, but the door was slammed in Zuko's face. "I'm afraid it's members only. Wait out here."

Zuko didn't say anything. He just stood there with his arms crossed grumpily over his chest. He leaned over and sniffed a flower before returning to his position.

"Do they smell good?" I wondered curiously.

"Shut up." Zuko growled.

Tikaani's POV:

"You've been hallucinating on cactus juice all day, and then you go and lick something you find stuck to the wall of a cave?" Katara shouted disbelievingly as she glared at Sokka. Red and I hung back and laughed. I was so glad that the cactus juice had cleared out. I could finally think straight and not see really weird and senseless hallucinations every five seconds.

"I have a natural curiosity." Sokka defended, looking at Katara innocently.

"I don't think this is a normal cave." Toph pointed out as she touched the wall of the cave with one of her hands. "This was carved by something."

"Yo. She's right. Look at dat shape." Red observed as she looked into the cave. I nodded in agreement. "And whoever carved it left this yellow stuff all over the walls."

"There's something buzzing in here." Toph continued. "Something that's coming for us!"

The six of us-Aang had rejoined us sometime while we were high on cactus juice-fled from the strange caves as quickly as possible. Almost as soon as we had fled from the caves, a swarm of buzzard wasps had us completely surrounded. Aang blasted some of them away from us with his airbending. One landed on a rock near Toph and she launched it into the air. Another one flew by Sokka and Toph hurled a giant rock at it, almost crushing Sokka in the process.

"What are you doing? That rock almost crushed me." Sokka observed, not sounding the least bit panicked at almost being crushed.

"Sorry, I can't tell where they are in the air!" Toph barked as another one flew by her head.

"I got this one!" Sokka told her. He ran towards it and started slashing at nothing but air. I rolled my eyes at his feeble attempts, then looked at Red, who was trying to pet one of the buzzard wasps.

"Sokka, there's nothing there. And Red, what on earth are you doing?" The buzzard wasp lunged towards her, snapping its large beak. I blasted it with a spray of water from my waterbending pouch.

"It's just a harmless wolf bat!" Red protested as she tried to run over to help it.

"THAT'S A BUZZARD WASP!" I corrected angrily.

"Oh. I guess my head's not as clear as I thought." Her and Sokka said at the same time.

"We have yo get out of here!" Katara rushed. "I'm completely out of water to bend.

"I'm not!" I shot a blob of water towards one of the buzzard wasps, but he opened his mouth and swallowed it all. "Nevermind!" I cried, retreating instantly. The buzzard wasp that I'd tried to attack swooped down and picked up Momo. He flew off, Momo caterwauling for help.

"MOMO!" Aang called desperately. He narrowed his eyes and whipped out his glider. "I'm not losing anyone else out here!" We watched him glide off in pursuit of the buzzard wasp, but we had more important things to worry about.

"Come on, we're going down!" Katara announced. We ran over to the narrow ledge of rock that we had used to climb up. We had to press our bodies against the wall in order to climb down. Buzzard wasps swarmed around us as we tried to make our leave. "Toph, shoot a rock right there!" Katara pointed towards a buzzard was that was flying too close.

"Where's 'there?'" Toph questioned in exasperation as she continued to look from side to side. Katara had completely forgotten that Toph couldn't see where she was pointing to. Red saved the day by lifting one of Toph's arms in the direction of the buzzard wasp. Toph fired a rock towards it.

"Yeah, you got it!" Sokka cheered. "She got it, right?"

"Yes, now let's move!" Katara rushed. We continued down the narrow ledge. I watched Aang as we made our way in the downwards spiral. After safely blowing Momo out of the buzzard wasp's grasp, he landed and sent a huge wall of air towards the hideous creature. The gust was powerful enough to split the giant bug-bird in half. The remains fell to the ground far below and Aang sulked back to the buzzard wasps' platteau, where we were still trying to deal with this infestation. "On your left!" Katara cried, telling Toph where to aim. Toph shot down one of the wasps. Red whacked any that came to close with her axes. Sokka used his boomerang. They were all trying their best to get rid of the buzzard wasps, but there were _way_ too many of them. I didn't have any way to fight them!

"It's not working!" I shouted to the others. Right when it looked like we were about to be overwhelmed by the larger than life pests, huge geysers of sand shot into the air and sucked the buzzard wasps down with them. The ones that got away were too scared to show their ugly, beady-eyed faces. We were left facing a tribe of sandbenders and their sand boats. Aang lighted down to join us as we began our face off.

One of the sandbenders stepped forward and pulled the mask of cloths away from his face. He seemed to be the leader of the tribe, the tallest and burliest of all of them. "What are you doing in our land with a sandbender sailor? From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe!" The chieftain accused.

"We didn't steal it!" Red defended indignantly. "We didn't steal nothing!"

"Anything." I corrected. She stuck her tongue out at me.

"We found the sailor abandoned in the desert." Katara explained humbly. "We're traveling with the avatar." She motioned towards Aang. I noticed the chieftain's eyes widen.

"Someone-" Red narrowed her eyes and glared at the kid standing next to the chieftain, who also had his cloth pulled back, "stole his bison, and _my_ wolf bat!"

The kid suddenly seemed hostile. "You dare accuse our people of theft when you ride in on a stolen sand sailor?"

"Quiet, Ghashiun! No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality."

"Sorry, father." The one called Ghashiun mumbled under his breath.

"I recognize the son's voice." Toph whispered as soon as he had finished speaking. "He's the one that stole Appa and Walnut."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked. She looked at Toph, and then Red for verification.

"Yeah... His voice _definitely_ sounds familiar." Red nodded slowly. Rage flared up like fire in her eyes. "He stole Appa _and_ Walnut."

"I never forget a voice." Toph verified.

"You stole Appa and Walnut!" Aang accused. The airbender barged forward and pointed his staff at Ghashiun accusingly. "Where are they? What did you do to them?" He demanded fiercely.

"They're lying! They're the thieves!" Ghashiun lied, digging himself deeper into the mess he had created.

Aang let out an angry shout and lunged forwards. A clean gust of air shattered one of the sturdy sandbender tribe's sturdy sand sailors. "Where is my bison?" He growled viciously. His eyebrows were lowered to cast a dark shadow over his eyes and his eyebrows twitched a little.

Ryuu's POV:

"Is the club meeting over?" Zuko asked as Iroh and the strange man from last night came out of the secret room. Zuko and I had been waiting all night. I'm pretty sure Zuko fell asleep standing up, but I found a spot on the floor, which turned out to be a mistake. My back was _killing_ me.

"Everything is taken care of." Iroh assured, bowing respectfully to the stranger. "We're heading to Ba Sing Se?"

"Ba Sing Se?" I wondered curiously as I stood to my feet and stretched. My back cracked loudly as I did so and I felt a little better. "Never been there. Can't wait."

"That's the earth kingdom capital! Why would we go there?"

"The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice two more."

"We can hide in plain sight there!" Iroh smiled. "And it's the safest place from the Fire Nation. Even I couldn't break through to the city!"

"That sounds like the kind of place we want to be in right about now." I agreed as I proceeded with my stretches. "But what about Uma?" The strange man raised an eyebrow at me. "My ostrich horse. I left her tied outside of the bar place. We didn't really have time to get her last night..."

The strange man shook his head. "The ferry taking you to Ba Sing Se will not allow animals. You'll have to leave it behind."

"_Her_." I corrected, narrowing my eyes. "_Her_, not _it_." I looked down sadly. I was going to regret this. "Can you find a good home for her? Please?" The elderly man looked at me, seemingly a little surprised, before he nodded. I nodded too and looked at the ground. _Sorry, Uma..._

The door to the flower shop opened and another strange man walked into the room. "I have the passports for our guests, but there are two men out on the streets, looking for them." We walked over to the door and looked out the small peephole. The two men who attacked us last night were holding a wanted poster with our faces on it. They showed it to a civilian and asked if he'd seen us. I looked around the room, but the only thing I saw were flowers. And pots. Pots. And flowers.

"I have an idea!" I announced, running over to a spot where three particularly large pots were resting on a wooden cart. "You could put some plants on top of us and carry us out, right under their noses!"

Tikaani's POV:

"And where's my wolf bat?" Red butted in. She didn't stand beside Aang, but that didn't stop the look of fear from entering Ghashiun's eyes when she started swinging her axes around.

"You tell me where they are _now_!" When the sandbender named Ghashiun didn't reply, he easily destroyed another sand sailor.

"What did you do?" Ghashiun's father snarled, looking at his son angrily.

"I-It wasn't me!" He argued wildly, refusing to fess up to what he'd done.

"You said to put a muzzle on them!" Toph retorted.

"YOU MUZZLED THEM?!" Aang roared in fury. I'd never heard him sound so mad, except when I watched this episode before coming here. Suddenly, Aang's arrows and tattoos started glowing. He swiped his staff forward, destroying the last sand sailor.

"I'm sorry!" Ghashiun finally decided that his lies weren't holding him up. "I didn't know that they belonged to the avatar and his friends!" He apologized frantically, but Aang wasn't finished yet.

"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!" He ordered. His voice was deep and it rang with the fury of all his past avatars.

"I-I traded them! To some merchants! They're probably in Ba Sing Se by now. They were going to sell them there." The terrified sandbender finally spilled the beans, but Aang was still in the avatar state. "Please, we'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"

Wind and sand started circling Aang and he began to rise into the air. It was a repeat of what had happened while we were at the Southern Air Temple. Bits of sand stung my skin as it whirled harder with every passing second.

"Just get out of here!" Sokka cautioned. He ran forward and grabbed Toph and I by our arms before dragging us out of the swirling sandstorm. "Run!" The sandbenders scattered, but having no sand sailors left to flee to, they didn't really have anywhere to go. I ripped free of Sokka and turned back.

"Katara, what are you doing?" She hadn't moved since Aang had started his temper tantrum. Red had followed the rest of us out of the storm. She was now trying to attack Ghashiun, but a group of sandbenders held her back after depriving her of her battle axe. The sand picked up as Aang's rage began to build. I couldn't see my own hands in front of my face anymore. When the winds cleared, Katara was hugging Aang. He had exited the avatar state and was now crying. Sokka and Toph exchanged a glance before joining in on the group hug. Red abandoned her pursuit of Ghashiun and made her way over. I joined the hug too.


	27. Chapter 26: All is Fair in Love and War

Tikaani's POV:

"Okay, so this symbol means..." I bit my lip as I studied the picture below the symbol that I was trying to memorize. I hadn't had much time to look at the scrolls I'd taken from the library, what with our being stuck in the desert and all, so now was the perfect opportunity. Of course, I'd miss out on swimming, one of my favorite hobbies, but I _really_ wanted to learn japanese. The process was slow and monotonous. "Uh..." It was a picture of a spirit standing alone against a human army. "Bravery? Courage?"

"Loneliness." Sokka corrected, sneaking up behind me. I jumped.

"Oh, uh... Hey." I was glad that he'd been the one to catch me. No one else knew that I couldn't read yet, miraculously. "Thanks."

"I haven't forgotten about the promise I made you." He continued.

"What promise?" I pretended that I didn't know what he was talking about, but the promise was always lingering in the back of my mind. As of now, Sokka was the only one who could teach me what I wanted to know. I didn't want to be alone with him, though. I hadn't been alone with Sokka since our time in the Cave of Two Lovers. Sure, we weren't technically alone now, with everyone splashing in the lake water right beside us, but we hadn't had a 'just us' kind of conversation since we'd been in the cave together. I wasn't too keen on having one now.

"I know that you haven't forgotten it, Tikaani." Sokka's voice sounded almost sad.

I sighed and let a long silence pass by before continuing. "I know. And I'm sorry..."

"Are things always going to be this awkward between us?" Sokka asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, Sokka."

"I hope not. I want us to be friends again." He admitted.

I smiled and nodded slowly. "I want that too."

"So will you let me help you?" He pressed.

I laughed just a little, which was strange because I don't remember him saying anything funny. "I suppose so."

"Alright, then." He scooched to sit next to me so we could look at the book together. It didn't seem as awkward as I thought it would have been. "I'm not sure how good of a teacher I'll-"

"Waterbending bomb!" Katara cried. She leaped down from the outcropping high above us and splashed down into the lake water, sending up a giant wave that soaked my book and Sokka's nearby pile of maps.

Sokka left my side and started frantically complaining about his now thoroughly soaked maps. "Sure. 5,000-year-old maps from the spirit library. Just splash some water on'em." I bended the water out of my book and his maps.

"Oh, stop being so uptight! Jump in the water and relax a little!" Red advised as she ducked under water and swam towards the shore. She kicked her feet to send puny waves of water towards Sokka and I. "You two have been reading all morning!"

"Which means you must have had plenty of time to figure out what move we're going to take!" Aang cheered as he made his way over as well. Red and Toph joined the discussion circle and so did Katara. Once we had all assembled, Sokka explained the plan.

"We just got out of the desert so we must be around here." He pointed to a spot on the map right next to a gray blob that must be the lake we were lounging next to. "And we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here." He pointed to a part of the map that was sectioned off by two tan rings, which were probably the walls. "It looks like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass."

"You sure that's the best way to go?" Toph criticized, raising an eyebrow at Sokka.

"It's the only way."

"I'm going to have to agree with Sokka on this one." I pointed out as I moved next to him to get a better look at the map. "It's the only possible place for us to pass to get to Ba Sing Se."

"Then to Ba Sing Se we go, no distractions." Sokka stood to his feet and scooped up his map. I slipped my book and the other random scrolls that I'd grabbed into a bag that Sokka had bought for me at our last stop. It seems that I was just now realizing how nice it was for him to do something like that...

"Hello there, fellow refugees!" Our little group meeting was suddenly interrupted as a man and two women spotted us. One of the women was dressed in simple green clothing. The other had a green top, yellow skirt, and double braids. The man also wore green, and he carried the largest backpack. He waved towards us, smiling. Sokka narrowed his eyes a little bit and I laughed, again for seemingly no reason at all. The three travelers approached.

"So, are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?" Aang wondered curiously.

"Sure are. We're trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby." He gently rubbed his wife's stomach.

"Coolio." Red piped up. "We can go through the Serpent's Pass together!"

The three strangers gasped and their eyes widened in fear. "The Serpent's Pass? Only the truly desperate take that deadly route."

"Deadly route." Toph observed. She suddenly punched Sokka so hard that he fell to the ground. "Great pick, Sokka." I narrowed my eyes at her, even though I knew she wasn't trying to hurt him or anything. Punching someone that hard just wasn't cool!

"Well we are desperate." Sokka stood back to his feet almost immediately.

"You should come with us to Full Moon Bay." The man advised. "Ferries take refugees across the lake. It's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se."

"And it's hidden," Ying continued, "so the Fire Nation can't find it."

"Hm..." Katara scratched her chin as if it was a difficult decision that she needed to mull over for a few days. "Peaceful ferry ride, or deadly pass?"

"PEACEFUL FERRY IT IS!" Red shouted triumphantly.

Ryuu's POV:

I looked out at the crystal-clear lakewater excitedly. We were Ba Sing Se bound! It would only be a few days time before we were tucked safely behind the walls, far away from worry or concern. I had gotten a lot of thinking time on the trip here. I realized that I didn't really care about my forgotten memories anymore. They were in the past. They didn't matter now. Iroh and Zuko were my new family.

"Who would have thought, after all these years, I would return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace," Iroh whipped out a funky straw hat and put it on his head, "as a tourist!"

"Look around!" Zuko snapped bitterly. "We're not tourists. We're refugees." Zuko picked up a bowl of the soup that some of the staff had handed out and took a sip. He spat it out. "Augh! I'm sick of eating rotten food... Sleeping in the dirt... I'm tired of living like this!"

"Oh, it can't be that bad!" I waved away Zuko's complaints and took a sip of my soup, immediately spitting it out afterwards. "What kind of slop is this?" I groaned a little bit. "Yeah, I'm tired of this too..."

"Aren't we all?" It sounded like more of a statement than a question. I turned around to see who had spoken. It was a tall stranger with bushy brown hair and a weed sticking out of his mouth. He turned to face us and stepped into the sunlight. "My name's Jet." He was wearing a very strange combination of clothing. Clashing bits of armor that were made of different types of material and colors that didn't really match at all. He motioned behind him. "And these are my Freedom Fighters." Two boys followed him, one wearing a straw disc-shaped hat, blue clothing, and a red cape, the other wearing a pinkish shield-like strap of armor over his chest and stomach and mismatched shoulder pads. The one with the red cape was taller, had a big nose, and carried a bow and arrow with him. The one with the pink shield-like armor plates had red paint on the side of his face and a blue headband. "Smellerbee, and Longshot."

"Hey." The boy called Smellerbee greeted. Longshot just nodded.

"Hello." Zuko muttered, not sounding particularly friendly.

"Hey, name's Shen, this is my cousin Lee, and my Uncle Mushi." I greeted in a friendly manner, introducing us by our fake names instead of our real ones.

"Here's the deal: I hear the captain's eating like a king while us refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of king is he eating like?" Iron butted in before I could say no.

"The fat, happy kind." Jet informed. Iroh's mouth dropped open and he drooled a little. "Wanna help us 'liberate' some food?" Zuko looked into his bowl of rotten scraps for a few moments before chucking it into the ocean.

"I'm in."

"Count me in, too!" I cheered. Jet smiled almost demonically.

Red's POV:

"I do not feel bad for that guy at all." I whispered to Tikaani as I watched them haul the cabbage man away after his cabbages had been completely destroyed. "MY CABBAGES!" I mocked hilariously and elbowed her, but she didn't even seem to notice that I was there. "Tikaani? EARTH TO TIKAANI!" She was staring off into space, thinking about who knows what. "Is that Zuko I see?" I asked casually, but she didn't budge.

"Um... Six tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se please." Aang asked the ticket vendor in the background as I tried to talk to Tikaani. "Uh... No one told us we had to have passports."

I punched her in the shoulder hard enough for her to notice, but not hard enough to actually hurt her. She jumped and turned to face me. "Red? What was that for?"

"Don't you know who this is? He's the avatar!" Sokka protested.

"You were spacing out!" I told her. "That's not like you, Tikaani! Don't tell me you were thinking about the plotline of the LOK again!"

"Ah. I see about fifty avatars a day, and by the way, not a very impressive costume."

"Oh, was I? Sorry... No... I was just... Thinking." She shrugged a little bit, but I examined her skeptically.

"Besides, no animals allowed! Do I need to call security?" The cranky ticket lady's bothersome voice sounded from the booth behind me. I ignored her and kept talking to Tikaani.

"About what?" She looked away, almost a little bit uncertain. "Come on, Tikaani! We're RWBFFATs! You can tell me _anything!_"

"That won't be necessary." Aang mumbled as he backed down.

"Well..." She rubbed her shoulder and looked away awkwardly. "Don't you feel a little bit... Left out?"

"Next!" The ticket lady screeched.

"Left out? What are you talking about?" I knew she was probably talking about us traveling with the Gaang. We didn't belong here, it was true, but I always felt like part of the group! "We're part of the Gaang, aren't we?"

"I'll take care of this." Toph walked passed us to face the ticket lady. "My name is Toph Beifong, and I'll need six tickets."

"That's not really what I meant. I mean... Don't you feel a little lonely, with Jet being so far away from you?" Tikaani looked at me expectantly. I suddenly realized what this was about.

"Oh! The golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help _anyone_ of the Beifong family!"

"So _that's_ what this is about!" I sighed in relief. At first, I thought it was something serious. "You miss Zuko, don't you?" I know we had only seen him a few episodes ago, but during that encounter, Tikaani had received vicious burns to her arms. The scars would never go away completely. I could only assume that the encounter had left Tikaani heartbroken. Maybe that's why she seemed so uncharacteristically down lately...

"It _is_ your pleasure." Toph stated as if it was pure fact. "As you can see, I am blind and these five imbeciles are my valets." Aang, Katara, and Sokka pulled Tikaani and I into a hug and smiled like idiots. I rolled my eyes at them, but stopped when I noticed something. Tikaani was blushing ever so slightly as Sokka hugged her. The ticket lady said something and the hug broke up. I nudged Tikaani, waiting for an answer as I observed her.

"Yeah... I was thinking about Zuko..." But she was staring at Sokka now. I looked between her and Sokka. _This is _not _happening..._ I just couldn't believe it.

"Is my seeing-eye-lemur." Toph informed after the ticket lady said something about animals. Momo hopped onto her shoulder and screeched. The ticket lady stamped all six tickets and handed them to Toph. I tried to forget about what I'd just seen, but I knew what it meant, and that was something that I _couldn't _forget. "Thank you very much." Toph took the tickets and we began to walk off in the direction. I agreed that I'd keep a close eye on Tikaani. _And _Sokka.

"All right, we scammed that lady good!" Sokka cried as we walked away. I rolled my eyes at him. Suddenly, a nearby worker grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yanked him towards her. The others stopped and looked over to see what the ruckus was. I knew it was just Suki, but the others exchanged looks of concern. Tikaani narrowed her eyes.

"Tickets and passports, please!" She demanded, holding her hand out to Sokka.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka raised an eyebrow at Suki.

"Yeah. I got a problem with you." Suki poked him in the chest. "I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the avatar?" She snickered mischievously, hoping that Sokka would recognize her.

"Do I know you?" Sokka narrowed his eyes at Suki.

"You mean you don't remember?" She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and looked at him angrily. His eyes widened in fear. "Maybe you'll remember this!" She kissed him on the cheek and let him go. I instantly looked back at Tikaani, who seemed _totally_ POed. Her eyes were narrowed to slightly more than slits and her hands were balled into fists. She was _totes_ jelly.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the kiss sent Sokka's smile spreading from ear to ear. "Suki!" He cheered jubilantly, hugging her.

"Sokka, it's good to see you!" Suki smiled brightly at him. She led us to a small waiting area on top of one of the bay's walls where we could talk. I kept my eyes on Tikaani the entire time. She kept her eyes on Sokka the whole time.

"You look so different without your make up!" Katara mused as we settled down for conversation. "And the new outfit!"

"That crabby lady makes all the security guards wear them." Suki explained. She turned her eyes towards Sokka, a move that didn't fly too well with Tikaani. I could feel her tense up from her spot beside me. "And look at you sleevless guy. Been working ou-"

"Enough of this!" I interrupted. Tikaani seemed to relax a little bit. "Isn't anyone going to introduce Toph and I to this random stranger?"

"Oh, this is Suki!" Sokka explained excitedly. "We met her on Kyoshi Island, along with the other Kyoshi Warriors."

"Speaking of the other Kyoshi Warriors, are they around?" Aang wondered curiously.

"Yeah. after you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we've been here ever since." Momo jumped up to greet her as soon as she'd finished explaining. She laughed. "Hi, Momo, good to see you too!" After petting him for a few moments, she continued talking. "So why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?"

Everyone looked down quietly and didn't say anything, except for Toph. "Appa is missing." Katara eventually spoke.

"We're going to Ba Sing Se to find him, and my pet wolf bat, Walt." I added.

"I'm so sorry to hear that!" Suki apologized sorrowfully. She looked at Aang. "Are you doing okay?" We all looked in his direction, but he remained emotionless.

"I'm doing fine. Would everybody stop worrying about me?" He snapped.

"Avatar Aang!" A voice called out in distress. "You have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings! Our passports, our tickets, everything's gone!" We all ran over to the edge to see who it was. It was Ying, the pregnant woman that we had spoken with earlier.

"We'll talk to the lady for you!" Aang assured, but one unsuccessful argument later, we were all heading in the direction of a deadly pass that we may or may not make it out of alive.

"I'm coming too!" Suki ran up to us. She was now in her full Kyoshi Warrior getup, make up and all. Tikaani was looking away sorrowfully. I would have to talk to her as soon as we got some alone time.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Sokka wondered worriedly and Suki slowed down a bit.

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come!" Suki looked at him longingly.

"I do, it's just-"

"Just what?" Suki demanded.

"Nothing. I'm glad you're coming." Sokka smiled weakly at her and she charged onwards. I looked back at Tikaani. She was tagging along behind, walking slower than usual. Now was my chance to talk to her for a little bit, so I dropped back to meet her pace.

"I thought you liked Zuko."

"What?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "Of course I like Zuko!"

"Tikaani, I've seen the way you-" I started to talk to her, but she cut me off.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Let's catch up to the others." I stared after her in shock. She'd never blatantly refused to tell me something before. I shook my head to clear it and followed after the others. _Tikaani... Why won't you just talk to me about it?_

Tikaani's POV:

_Of course I like Zuko._ I thought to myself as I trudged onward, looking at the ground. We were walking up a narrow rock pathway. I sighed and looked up. Sokka was walking directly in front of me, Red behind. We were at the back of the group. It kind of looked like we were playing follow the leader or something. I smiled the slightest bit, but the smile quickly faded as some of the thoughts I'd been fighting off reentered my head. _But Sokka's so funny and sweet! How could you not like him, Tikaani? _I shook my head slowly. _Forget about it! He's got Suki, just move on already!_

"The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side and they don't want anyone to find out what it is." Suki explained as a Fire Nation ship passed by our rocky ledge. Everyone remained quiet. Suddenly, the rock gave way beneath Ying's husband's feet. Toph quickly earthbended a precipice out from the ledge in order to catch him. She then bounced him back up onto the ledge.

"I'm okay!" He cheered. The rocks tumbled down the cliff face and crashed into the water below.

"They spotted us!" Sokka cried. "Let's go, let's go!" A ball of fire came hurtling towards the cliff face. Aang leaped into the air and swatted it back towards the ship with his staff. They fired another one and this time, it struck the rock above Suki's head. Rocks tumbled towards her, but Sokka was quick. He shoved her out of the way. Within a few moments, I uncapped my waterbending pouch and bended a veil of water over him. The rocks tumbled harmlessly into my bending water. I then disposed of them into the lake before returning the water to my pouch.

"Suki, are you okay?" Sokka rushed over to help her up. "You've got to be more careful!" Sokka took her hand and dashed off with her, trying to lead her out of harm's way. "Come on!"

"Thanks for saving my life, Tikaani." I mumbled under my breath. "Gee, no problem Sokka..." I followed Sokka and Suki's leads to get to safety. Pretty soon, we found a nice mostly-sheltered spot to set up camp. I curled into my sleeping bag and watched Sokka being fiercely overprotective of Suki. I sighed and pretended to sleep. After a while, Sokka got up from his sleeping bag and walked off. Suki followed him too, and I took that as my cue to do the same. Suki found Sokka sitting on a strange rock formation, staring up at the moon. I hung back in the shadows and watched.

"It's a beautiful moon." Suki announced wonderously as she joined him.

"Yeah. It really is." But Sokka didn't sound like he was in awe. He just sounded sad.

"Look, I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself." Suki told him, taking a seat next to him.

"I know you can." Sokka whispered.

"Then why are you acting so overprotective?" Suki inquired.

"It's so hard to lose someone you care about." Sokka replied. "Something happened at the North Pole and I couldn't protect someone. Then, right after that, someone else I cared about... Didn't feel the same way about me." Guilt ripped through my heart. For a single moment, I wished I could go back to the Cave of Two Lovers and tell him something else. Maybe not blow him off. Maybe I wanted to be with him now... _I'm so, so sorry, Sokka... I'd take it all back if I could..._

"I lost someone I cared about. He didn't die or reject my feelings..." Suki explained, smiling slightly to send Sokka the hint. "He just went away for a while. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart, and brave, and funny..."

Sokka suddenly stood up and looked at Suki defensively. "Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?"

"No. He's about your height." Suki replied calmly.

"Is he better looking?" Suki laughed.

"It is you, stupid!" She finally blurted.

"Oh." Sokka smiled. The two of them looked into each other's eyes for a moment before leaning closer to one another but Sokka pulled away at the last minute. "I can't..."

"I'm sorry..." Suki looked down sadly.

"No. You shouldn't be." Sokka mumbled before turning around and sulking off, leaving Suki alone. I sighed and turned around to walk back to the campsite, only to find myself face to face with Red.

"I thought you liked Zuko." She whispered, smiling weakly. I sighed and closed my eyes. I just couldn't run from my feelings anymore. I ran forward and hugged Red. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes.

"I'm just so confused." I confessed as I pulled away from the hug. "I _do_ like Zuko, but... I like Sokka too. And now... _Neither _of them want anything to do with me."

"It's okay, Tikaani..." Red comforted me with a few heartfelt words. "You're not alone."

"I know, Red. You're the best RWBFFAT a girl could ask for. But... I've never felt this way about two guys at once before." I looked back at the spot where Suki was sitting on the rock, probably thinking about how bad she screwed up with Sokka. "At least now I don't have to make a choice..."

Red put her hand on my shoulder. I could see in her eyes that she felt sorry for me. She looked like she understood what I was going through. "Come on. Let's get some sleep."

Ryuu's POV:

Zuko, Iroh, and I sat in a circle with Longshot and Smellerbee while Jet passed out the food we stole from the kitchen to some of the less-fortunate looking passengers. We were making some peaceable conversation with the two while Jet did so.

"So, Smellerbee... That's an unusual name for a young man." Iroh observed.

"Maybe it's because I'm not a man. I'm a girl!" Smellerbee corrected angrily as she glared at us. My eyes widened. I was with Iroh on this one: I too had mistaken her for a guy. In his defense, she did look like one. Her hair was cut really short. She stood up and started stomping away furiously.

"Oh, now I see! It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!" Iron called desperately after her, trying to right his mistake. Smellerbee kept walking away. Longshot stared after her, then got to his feet and followed. I didn't pay too much attention to them, it was rude to stare. Instead, I picked up a bowl of noodles and started chowing.

"From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se." Jet mused as he took a seat across from us. "I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall..."

"It is a magnificent sight." Iroh declared. I remembered from his tales he'd laid siege to the city once before, a long time ago. He'd lost his son during the battle, which had ended up cutting his siege short.

"So you've been there before?" Jet questioned.

"Once." Iroh looked away. "When I was a... Different man..." He muttered, looking away almost guiltily.

"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of." Jet confessed, flattening his oddly-shaped eyebrows as he looked away. "But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se. For a new beginning... A second chance..."

"That's very righteous." I took a sip of tea and ate some noodles. "We're all going to Ba Sing Se for the same reason you are: a new beginning."

Red's POV:

"There's the wall!" Sokka cried, pointing forwards. We had finally made it out of the serpent's pass, after dealing with that really grouchy-looking lake monster. I just wanted to get this day over with so I could go to bed. There was no explaining the relief when I saw the wall towering on the horizon. "Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se!"

"Thank _goodness_!" I let out a long sigh of relief. The sooner we got to Ba Sing Se, the sooner I'd be able to start looking for Walt; and the sooner I'd be reunited with Jet!

"Ah! Oh no!" Ying suddenly exclaimed, gripping her stomach intensely.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked in concern.

"The baby's coming!" Ying cried out.

"WHAT? Now?" Sokka protested ignorantly. "Can't you just hold it in or something?"

"Sokka, calm down! I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home." Katara tried to calm her brother. I wanted to step as far out of the picture as possible.

"THIS ISN'T THE SAME AS DELIVERING AN ARCTIC SEAL!" Sokka argued disbelievingly. He flailed his arms around as he shouted. "THIS IS A REAL. HUMAN. THING!"

"It's called a baby." Katara reminded irritably. I had half a mind to whack Sokka on the back of the head to make him get a hold of himself. "And I helped her deliver plenty of those too. Aang, get some rags, Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make an earth tent; a big one." Toph stomped her foot on the ground and large rocks rose up to shelter Ying. "Red and Tikaani, come with me."

"I'm fine just chilling out here with Toph, thank you very much." I stated, sitting against the side of the earth tent. I was _not_ going to watch someone give birth. I watched a video of it in health class before, and it was _disgusting_. Seriously, I did not need to see that in real life. At least not at this young, impressionable age.

"Alright, then..." Katara looked at Tikaani, who didn't argue like I had. Unlike me, those kinds of videos didn't seem to phase her one bit.

"So... You can feel what's going on in there?" I asked Toph eventually.

"Yeah." She replied, sounding almost rueful.

"Is it gross?"

"Yeah." She repeated.

"Just what I thought."

Tikaani's POV:

After the baby had been successfully delivered, everyone gathered inside of Toph's earth tent. Katara even convinced Aang to come in, despite the fact that he'd been moping around and acting like anyone but himself lately.

"She sounds healthy." Toph decreed as the baby cried.

"She's beautiful." Katara whispered, mesmerized.

"Congratulations." I smiled warmly at the couple.

"Yeah, you had a baby, harah." Red stated as if it was no big deal. "Can we get to Ba Sing Se already?" Everyone ignored her negativity.

"It's so... Squishy-looking." Sokka announced in a less than dignified way.

Aang smiled for the first time in what seemed like days as he glanced down upon the bundle of joy that had just entered the world.

"What should we name her?" Ying's husband wondered.

Ying pondered for a bit. "I want our daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something."

Aang's eyes watered a bit and he stepped forward. He wiped his wet eyes before saying anything. "I've been going through a really hard time lately... But you've made me..." He trailed off, as if searching for the right word. "Hopeful again."

Ying stared at him, then looked at her husband. "I know what I want to name our baby now. Hope."

"That's a perfect name." Her husband cooed. "Hope."

"That's great! Can we leave now?" The completely insensitive Red butted into the peaceful moment. At times like this, I wanted to tell her to grow up.

"You're really eager to find Walt, aren't you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or is this about something else?" I raised my lowered my eyebrows repeatedly.

"The sooner we get to Ba Sing Se, the sooner I can see Jet!" She whispered.

"I knew it. But you know... We have to get through the Drill first."

"UGH. I completely forgot about that stupid drill!" She whined her complaints. I chuckled a little bit.

"But we'll take it down quickly, and as soon as we do, both of us will be one step closer to our love interests!" I stated triumphantly. Sokka was still in the back of my mind, but he was with Suki. I _had_ to move on... _From now on, Zuko is my number one focus, at least regarding my love life. _A huge weight lifted off my chest at that moment. _And now, I can move on. Zuko, here I come._


	28. Chapter 27: Muu

**I skipped the episode "The Drill" because I didn't really know what I could do with my characters in that episode. There wasn't much room for differentiation. Basically the only thing that happens is the Gaang stops Azula, and Jet starts stalking Iroh, Zuko, and Ryuu. Just wanted to explain myself so that no one got upset about me skipping their favorite episode or something...**

Tikaani's POV:

"Look! The inner wall!" Katara cheered exuberantly as the train continued to speed along its track. I eagerly looked out the window and saw the wall approaching had been sitting in this train all night. My back was _killing_ me and I couldn't wait to get to the city so I could have a proper night's sleep. Red had fallen asleep, I couldn't imagine how. The train was _made of rock_ for Pete's sake...

"Finally!" I cried excitedly. I shook Red's shoulder, but she remained sound asleep. "I can't believe we've actually made it to Ba Sing Se after all we've been through!" It had been close to four or five weeks since we'd left the desert. I had never realized from watching the episodes that it had taken so long, but _a lot_ of extra stuff happened between episodes.

"Hey, don't jinx it!" Sokka snapped irritably. "We could still be attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon or find out the city's been submerged in an ocean full of killer shrimp." He theorized, trying to make spooky hand motions.

"You've been hitting the cactus juice again?" Toph questioned skeptically.

"Hey, I'm just saying! Weird stuff happens to us." As if to prove what Sokka had said, a heavy man sucking on a piece of corn lumbered down the aisle and plopped down in between him and Toph.

"Red." I nudged her again. She didn't budge. "Ba Sing Se. Jet."

"Whazzat?" She sat up straight and looked around.

"We're almost in Ba Sing Se."

"Ba Sing Se?!" She looked out the window excitedly and stared at the wall in awe. "Well it took us long enough! Oh, I can't wait to see Jet, and get Walt back... LAKE LAOGAI IS GOING TO BE THE BEST EPISODE EVER!"

"It always was your favorite episode." I nodded slowly. "So... Are you going to tell me how you plan on saving Jet?" I asked curiously. Every other time that I'd tried to get her to tell me, she always said she'd tell me when she was ready.

"Not yet." She shook her head slowly.

"He's a giant bison!" I was about to say something else, but Sokka's voice in the background interrupted me. "Where could someone possibly hide him?" Just as he said that, the train sped through a tunnel. We emerged on the other side to see miles and miles of tall buildings stretched in all directions. I could only see a sliver of white on the horizon, which was another one of Ba Sing Se's walls, probably the one blocking off the poor side of the city. "Oh..." Sokka muttered as we gaped at the spacious surroundings. The train kept barreling forward, finally slowing down as we approached the station in the center of the city.

"This place looks amazing!" I exclaimed as the train came to a halt. It was so much more impressive now than what it was on the TV screen! We walked out of the train and to the edge of the station to get a better look at the city.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be." Toph grumbled as she followed us unenthusiastically.

"What's the problem? It's amazing!" Sokka exclaimed as he looked out over the city.

"Just a bunch of walls and rules! You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days." Toph growled as she stroked Momo, who was sitting on her shoulder.

"I'm already sick of it." Red groaned. "I've always been more of a forest-type person, so me and cities don't really mix too well. Plus, rules suck." I knew Red was happy to be here because of her reunion with Jet and Walnut, but I also knew that what she said about cities was true. She was always more of a foresty, country-loving, ew-a-city-get-me-away-from-here type of girl. "The sooner we find Appa and Walt, the sooner we can leave."

"Don't worry... We're coming for you." Aang responded after blowing on his bison whistle. "They're here. I can feel it." He announced.

"Yo. Why is that creepy lady staring at us?" Red called out. We all looked back to see a strange woman with long black hair standing on the other side of the train track. Her brainwashed smile seemed to stretch from ear to ear. After the train had left the station, she walked over to where we were standing and introduced herself.

"Hello! My name is Joo Dee. I have been given the great honor of showing the avatar around Ba Sing Se." She looked at Aang, smiling widely. Then, she turned her infinitely creepy gaze on the rest of us. "And you must be Sokka, Katara, Toph, Red, and Tikaani. Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"

"Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King immediately!" Sokka explained urgently as he clutched his bag closer to him and glared viciously at Joo Dee.

"Great! Let's begin our tour." Joo Dee's super creepy smile was really unnerving. "And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you will like it."

"WHOA. Is it just me, or is she creepier than that corn guy on the train?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow as Joo Dee walked away.

"Ugh!" Sokka groaned, making a face at Joo Dee's ignorance. He stormed after her. "Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the king about the war. It's important!"

"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." _Again with the creepy smile!_

We all exchanged a look before following Joo Dee. She led us to a small ostrich horse-pulled carriage and we all climbed inside. Then, the carriage set off to begin our tour of the city. First, we galloped through the poverty-stricken, poor side of Ba Sing Se.

"What's that wall for?" Katara asked as she looked out. After about an hour of traveling through the poor side of the city, we were beginning to approach the wall leading to the more upper rings of the city.

"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls. There are the ones outside, protecting us, and the ones inside, that help maintain order." Joo Dee informed. "This is the lower ring, where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsmen and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively." I looked out the window and saw two guys in a back alleyway, sharpening some huge swords. "You do want to watch your step, though."

"This is stupid." I grumbled as I looked out at some of the poor people gathered in the streets. "Why would you block off the poor people from the other parts of the city? It's cruel and unfair..."

"This is why I never came here before. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live..." Aang looked off sadly.

Ryuu's POV:

"I wonder what our new place will be like!" I mused as Zuko and I walked down the city street. Street vendors gathered on either side of the street and crowds of people waited in line to buy souvenirs and nic-nacs from the sales folk gathered in the gutters. Iroh had stopped at a flower place, so Zuko and I were walking slower so he could catch up when he was done there.

Zuko didn't respond.

"What kind of flowers do you think Iroh will get? Tulips? Roses? How about a graceful lily?" Zuko shot me a dark look, which I assumed was a sign telling my to shut up. Before I could respond to this, Iroh rejoined us holding a pot of brightly-colored orange flowers. He grinned happily as he examined the flowers, but stopped when he noticed Zuko giving him the same dark look that he had given me.

"I just want our new place to look nice, in case someone brings home a lady friend!" Iroh winked at Zuko and elbowed him gently to make sure he got the hint.

"Don't worry, Iroh, if he doesn't, I will!" I snickered.

"This city is a prison. I don't want to make a life here." Zuko snapped angrily.

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not." Iroh replied, holding up the flowers to examine them. "Now come on, I got us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon!"

Red's POV:

"The upper ring is home to our most important citizens." Joo Dee explained as our carriage passed a very exotic-looking estate with a large, ornate building perched at the top of a hill. lush green grass surrounded the place, and some trees bordered the property. I examined the grass and trees closely as we went by. They looked feeble, weak, and almost fake compared to the trees back home in Jet's forest. "Your house is not too far from here."

"Ugh... This tour is _so_ boring!" Tikaani complained in a whisper. "How can you even stand this?"

"I think about what Jet is doing, so I don't get too bored. Right now, he's stalking up on Iroh, Zuko, and Ryuu." I told her as I remembered just how obsessive Jet could be at times.

"At the end of the episode, Zuko _totally_ pwns Jet in that sword fight." I narrowed my eyes at Tikaani.

"He did _not_ pwn Jet! If the Dai Li hadn't gotten involved, Jet would have eliminated Zuko, swords down!" I defended in a whisper as we rolled passed the royal palace of the earth king. Joo Dee explained some more stuff about walls and cultural heritage, but at this point, I wasn't really paying attention. History had never been my strongest subject.

"Would not!" Tikaani argued fiercely.

"Would too!" I snarled.

"WOULD NOT!" Tikaani stuck her tongue out at me. I returned the look, then stopped to realize that everyone was staring at us. Tikaani's eyes widened, and she started whistling and looking out the window as if nothing had happened.

"What are you all looking at?" I inquired. Everyone was quick to look away.

"Here we are, your new home!" Joo Dee sang as we arrived at a decent-looking stone building with a shiny golden roof. To my satisfaction, there was an ample amount of trees and shrubs positioned around the building, so I'd have something to do in my free time. I absolutely loved climbing trees, then jumping down to scare people when they walked by. It was a game we used to play all the time back in Jet's Forest... "More good news!" Joo Dee's annoying voice snapped me back to the present. I turned around to see a messenger had handed her a scroll of paper. He hurried off as she read the paper. "Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed and should be put through in about a month!" She beamed at us in that creepy way that made me want to smack her across the face. "Much more quickly than usual."

"A MONTH?!" Sokka complained loudly.

"Six to eight weeks, actually." Joo Dee corrected, still beaming. "Now, don't we all want to see the inside?" She slowly walked up the steps and led us into the house. It was a very spacious place. There was a tea table in the center with six pillows in a circle around it, some paintings on the walls, and some nice curtains, but I thought it was a bit too spacious. It was missing something too. It didn't have that leafy smell that I always enjoyed. In fact, it smelled like _city people._ "Isn't it nice? I think you will really enjoy it here."

"I would like it more if it smelled like leaves." I piped up. Once again, everyone was giving me a weird look. "What? Leaves smell good!"

"Or if we weren't staying so long." Sokka added. "Can't we see the king any sooner?"

"The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world, but he will see you as soon as time allows." Joo Dee just kept on smiling.

"Well if we're going to be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa and Walt." Aang pointed out.

"I'd be happy to escort you anywhere you'd like to go." Joo Dee announced, dipping her head to Aang.

"We don't need a babysitter." Toph grumbled defensively.

"Oh, I won't get in the way... And to leave you alone would make me a bad host." _You know what grinds my gears? JOO DEE'S SMILE._ "Where shall we start?"

Tikaani' POV:

We started our search at a pet store, although I didn't really know why we bothered to do so. It wasn't like this place was going to have a cage big enough to fit Appa or Walt. Maybe a zoo would, but not a simple pet shop. While Joo Dee and the others talked to the guy at the counter, I walked about the pet store, checking things out. Some of the animals in the Avatarverse never really made it on screen, and it was interesting to see what animals were considered as everyday pets. I spotted elephant rats, owl cats, sparrowkeets, and even some dragon flies. There were also several regular animals like cats and dogs.

Those were the ones that I had actually seen in the show. Now I was starting to see gold koi fish, a goldfish-koi hybrid with the scales of a goldfish and the body of a koi, iguana mice, mice with thick iguana scales, mouse tails and ears, and turtle cats, cats with shorter legs and turtle shells. Seriously, the animals here were just downright _weird_.

Suddenly, a small whimpering caught my attention. I turned my head to see a small furry creature sitting in a cage that was separated from all of the others. He was brown with paws that looked very lion-like. He also had two stumps at the top of his head and a tan, moose-like muzzle. "A saber tooth moose lion cub!" I gasped, kneeling down to look into the little guy's cage. He looked at me and whimpered a little bit, then pawed at the side of his cage. A basket of apples was sitting on a shelf a little ways away. "Hungry little guy?" He wagged his tail and made another soft whimper. I took an apple out of the basket and sliced it into pieces with my waterbending so I could fit it through the bars of the cage.

"_What_ do you think you're doing?" A low voice asked. I turned around to see a rather bulky man lumbering towards me. I backed away from him in fear and noticed that the cub had instantly retreated to the back of the cage. He huddled there, shaking in fear.

"He just... He looked hungry!" I told the guy.

"That's none of your concern."

"I'm sorry..." I apologized, looking around the man at the frightened cub. "But... Just out of curiosity, what do you plan on doing with that saber tooth moose lion cub?"

"He's already sold to some butcher in the middle ring." The bulky man announced.

"They're going to eat him?" I questioned in horrified disbelief.

"Probably fatten him up first, let him grow, but yeah. Moose lion burgers. They're a big seller with the civilians in the middle ring." He narrowed his eyes at me. "But as I said, that's none of your concern."

"I know. I was just looking around and got curious." I tried to seem indifferent. He eyed me skeptically before he focused on something over my shoulder. "Get out of that feed, filthy lemur!" He pushed me aside to deal with the problem, leaving me alone with the little cutie. I hurriedly unlocked the cage and stuffed the little cub in my shirt. I made calm shushing noises which managed to keep him quiet. Then, I grabbed a stuffed saber tooth moose lion cub off the shelf and threw it into the cage. The man was coming back now, and I walked around him in a way that hid the bulge in my shirt. The others were leaving now, so I hurried out after them.

"Where to next?" I asked casually, petting the abnormal large lump on my stomach. "We should probably get in the carriage right now and speed away as fast as-"

"Rotten little thief!" I turned around to see the bulky guy from the pet store come charging towards us. Everyone stared in shock.

"Don't just stand there GET IN THE CARRIAGE!" They all hurried inside, and I followed hastily. "To the university!" I told the driver. He flicked his reins and we were off, speeding in the other direction. I looked out the back window, satisfied that the man was standing there staring after us, not giving chase.

"What was all that about?" Aang asked as everyone stared expectantly at me. I let the saber tooth moose lion cub fall out of my shirt and on to my lap. "Aww! What a cute baby saber tooth moose lion cub!"

"I think you're missing the point, Aang." Katara glared at me with a stern look on her face. "You stole it, didn't you Tikaani?"

"_Him_!" I corrected furiously. "Not _it_, _him._ And, yes, yes I did steal him." The cub made a cute burp-like noise and wagged his tail. He looked up at me with the most adorable expression I'd ever seen.

"Why on earth would you steal it?" Toph wondered, raising an eyebrow at me.

"They were going to make him into moose burgers! What else was I supposed to do?" I petted him on the head and he leaned into my hand, thumping one of his back feet as he did so.

"Aww! He reminds me of Foo-foo-cuddly-poops!" Sokka mused in awe. "Can I name him, please!"

"No!" I snapped. There was no way I was going to let him give _my_ new pet a stupid name! "Besides, I already picked out a name. Muu." Muu looked up at me and blinked, tilting his head curiously.

"You can't keep him!" Katara objected. "He's a wild animal! You can't tame wild animals."

"Of course you can!" Red protested. "I tamed Walt."

"It doesn't matter. I'm keeping Muu, no matter what you say." I stroked him on the head again.

"I find it hilarious that you just stole an animal from a pet store and Joo Dee doesn't have anything to say about it." Red pointed out, looking at Joo Dee, who was still smiling.

"Just don't do it again." She cautioned. Still smiling. Always smiling.

Red's POV:

"I've got it!" Katara's ridiculous voice awakened me from my sleep, but I didn't get up yet. I laid there like a lump of nothing and pretended to sleep. I even faked a loud snore so the others would buy it. I'm an excellent fake-sleeper. _MORNINGS ARE EVIL._ "I know how we're gonna see the Earth King!"

"How are we supposed to do that? One doesn't just pop in on the earth king!" Toph exclaimed, imitating Joo Dee.

"The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear!" Katara announced, reading from the invitation.

"You mean platypus bear?" Aang corrected.

"No, it just says bear." Katara announced cautiously, as if she was unsure.

"Certainly you mean his pet skunk bear?" Sokka tried.

"Or his armadillo bear." Toph guessed.

"Gopher bear?" Tikaani attempted.

"Wolf bear?" I inquired, sitting up suddenly, much to the surprise of the others.

"Just... Bear..." Katara trailed off, looking bewildered.

"This place is weird." Toph concluded.

"The place will probably be packed! We can sneak in with the crowd!" Katara plotted deviously. I let out a loud, undignified burp.

"Won't work." Toph dismissed the idea almost instantly, laying back on her sleeping bag.

"Why not?" Katara questioned.

"Well, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you a mile away." Toph picked up a dumpling from a nearby bowl and stuffed it into her face. "You've got no manners."

"Hey, I can be very polite and respectful if I want to be!" Tikaani protested. "The Northern Water Tribe, where I was born, is the perfect portrait of propriety. Believe me, my mother wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she hadn't taught me manners."

"Can't you just teach us how to be all manners?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, I'm mastering every element. How hard can manners be?" Aang took a curtain off the wall and wrapped it around himself like a robe. "Good evening Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Miss Katara Water Tribe, Miss Tikaani Water Tribe, Miss Red Freedom Fighter, Lord Momo of the Momo dynasty, your Momo-ness, Prince Muu of the Muu empire, your royal Muu-ness." Aang dipped his head to each and every one of us as he addressed us.

"And same to you, sir Aang Air Nomad." I returned the greeting, but didn't leave the spot on my sleeping bag.

"Avatar Aang, how you do go on." Sokka announced, wrapping a curtain around himself too. Aang bowed, then Sokka bowed, and they continued this behavior until they banged their heads together rather roughly.

"Katara and Tikaani might be able to pull it off, but you three would be lucky to pass as busboys or maids.

"Or I could be one of your assistants." I piped up.

"And your name can be Zhu Li! DO THE THING!" Tikaani piped up, saying that last part in an imitation of Varrick's voice. We burst out laughing. "It's an inside joke." Tikaani explained to everyone else once we had finally settled down.

"But I feel so fancy!" Sokka smiled innocently. I rolled my eyes.

Jet's POV:

I hung out in a back alleyway, watching the door to the tea shop closely. Cloaked in shadows, no one was able to see me. A dark figure walked into the tea shop, but it was just another customer. I narrowed my eyes and continued watching, focusing everything into this stakeout...

"Jet!" I whirled around as a voice sounded behind me. "We need to talk."

"What?" I hadn't yet realized who it was because of the darkness, but I could tell from the shapes of their shadows that it was Smellerbee and Longshot. "Oh, great, it's you guys! Where have you been? I could use some help with surveillance here." I was about to return to my post, but Smellerbee started talking.

"We've been talking... And we think you're becoming obsessed with this." She confessed, motioning towards the tea shop. "It's not healthy."

"Oh really?" I narrowed my eyes at the two of them. "You both think this?" My gaze flickered towards Longshot, who put his hand on Smellerbee's shoulder to say that he agreed with what she was saying.

"We came here to make a fresh start." Smellerbee tried to convince me to let this go, but I wouldn't. "But you won't let this go, even though there's no real proof!"

"Well, maybe if you'd help me-" I argued, hoping that one of them might.

"Jet, you've gotta stop this!" Smellerbee pressed onwards. I sneered.

"Maybe you've forgotten why we need to start over!" I snarled. "Maybe you've forgotten how the Fire Nation left us all homeless! How they wiped out all the people we loved!" I looked down at the arm blades that I had found in the forest those months ago. I had been wearing them since the day that I'd found them, and every day I thought of Red. "How they killed Red!" The two of them looked away guiltily, but still, neither of them made a move to help. "If you don't want to help me, then I'll get the evidence on my own!"

I turned around and stomped towards the door of the Tea Shop. I was about to expose these firebenders for who they were: The same ruthless killers that all firebenders were. Rage coursed through me in waves. I shoved the door open and stormed into the shop.

"I'm tired of waiting!" The three men from the ship who called themselves Lee, Mushi, and Shen were standing on the other side of the shop, holding trays of tea. "These three men are firebenders!" I pointed my finger in their direction accusingly and I whipped out my hook swords. I was going to expose these three firebenders for who they were. "I know they're firebenders! I saw the old man heating his tea!"

"He works in a tea shop!" Someone at a nearby table explained in a confused manner.

"He's a firebender, I'm telling you!" I held my swords up threateningly. These firebenders wouldn't get off the hook so easy.

"Drop your swords, boy." The civilian got out of his seat and stepped towards me. "Nice and easy..." But I ignored him and stepped towards the firebenders.

"You'll have to defend yourselves. Then everyone will know. Go ahead. Show them what you can do." I taunted and tormented.

The one about my age with the scar, whose name was apparently Lee, stepped forward and swiped a pair of broadswords from the man who was trying to coax me to put mine down. "You want a show? I'll give you a show!" He held the swords like an expert. In one swift motion, he pulled a table in front of him and kicked it towards me. I easily sliced it in half with my hook sword and did a front flip over it, landing on my feet in front of Lee. I swiped at him with my swords, but he blocked them with one of his swords and leaped backwards, jumping up onto another table. I sliced this one in half right out from under him, but he balanced atop the wobbling table half. I lunged forward, swinging my swords, cutting both halves into quarters.

Lee jumped into the air high above my head, then slashed down towards me as he landed on his feet. I jumped backwards, avoiding impact. I did a back flip, landing on my feet near the entrance of the tea shop. He charged forward with both his swords raised. I blocked the blow with both of mine, then swung viciously to the side, which ended up sending him out the front door and into the street outside. I did a series of flips and somersaults until I was standing in front of him, then I brought both of my swords down upon him.

"You must be getting tired of using those swords." I taunted daringly. "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?" I could tell from the look in his eyes that he really wanted to. I kept pressing with my hook swords, but suddenly, I started having my doubts. _Why am I even doing this? Do I have any real proof?_ Lee began to push me back, snapping me back to the fight. _I'm doing this for _Red_._ I thought with new voracity. "I bet you wish you could help yourself out with a fire blast right about now!" I snarled viciously, thinking about Red. _WHY didn't I tell her how I felt about her before she left? I'M SO STUPID SOMETIMES! _I swung one of my hook swords with the tip of the other, swinging straight towards Lee. He stabbed his sword downwards and it caught one of my swords by the hilt, causing both of them to get stuck in the ground.

"You're the one who needs help!" Lee snarled. He swung his sword straight towards my face and I limboed backwards to avoid it. The sword passed right in front of my face, chopping off half of the weed that was always sticking out of my mouth.

I flipped backwards, landing on the edge of a nearby well. I stood as tall as I could atop the well. "You see that? The Fire Nation is trying to silence me! It'll never happen!" I lunged forward again. Metal clanged against metal as our swords clashed once again. We stood back to back and lashed our swords from side to side, always striking metal on metal and never hitting one another.

"Drop your weapons!" A couple of Dai Li agents split the crowd and walked up to face us.

I pointed my remaining hook sword at the three firebenders. "Arrest them! They're firebenders!"

"This poor boy's confused!" The old one, who I remembered being called Mushi, explained to the Dai Li agents. "We're just simple refugees."

"Yeah!" The one called Shen agreed. "He just charged into the tea shop and wrecked the place before he tried to kill Lee!"

"It's true, sir, we saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city.

"Come with us, son." The Dai Li agents approached me from behind. I swung my hook sword backwards, trying to strike one of the Dai Li agents, but he caught my weapon with his rock glove. They instantly had my hands behind my back and were dragging me away. I struggled, but my efforts were in vain.

"You don't understand, they're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!" _Red would have believed me..._

Tikaani's POV:

"Well that party sucked..." I whispered to Red as we all gathered in Long Feng's library. "Worst party ever. Why do evil things always happen in libraries?"

"Why won't you let us talk to the king? We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!" Sokka asked Long Feng angrily after we had all been assembled. Red and I didn't really care what Long Feng had to say, so we didn't pay much attention to what was going on.

"Poor Jet... He's getting brainwashed right about now." She whispered.

"Poor Zuko. He just got attacked by some insane kid with hook swords." I countered.

Red glared at me angrily. "So help me, Tikaani, if Long Feng weren't here right now, I'd strangle you, then cut your head off and hang it on the wall above the fireplace!"

"Speaking of the fireplace, why is the fire green? It's so unnerving." I changed the subject, completely ignoring Red's outrageous threats. She glared at me, then looked thoughtful.

"Maybe that's where he throws all the bodies of his victims? Or whatever's left of them."

"Then why is it green? If it was bodies, the fire would be red."

"Hmmm, you're right… Maybe he slayed a bunch of zombies and threw their carcasses in there?"

"Zombies? You mean like Jet?" I snickered evilly. "Y'know, 'cause he's brainless."

"No wait, I got a better idea! He threw bacon in the fire! Y'know? Like ZUKO'S FACE!" Red seethed.

"At least Zuko doesn't smoke weed." I retorted.

"Well at least Jet doesn't wear a ponytail in the first season like some hippie! I mean seriously! And at least he doesn't go around dating emo chicks!"

I opened my mouth to make another retort, but stopped as the door opened and Joo Dee #2 walked into the room to take us home.

"I am Joo Dee. I will be your host for as long as you are in the city."


	29. Chapter 28: The Tales of Ba Sing Se

_**The Tale of Tikaani**_

Tikaani's POV:

I slowly stood up out of bed and tiptoed across the floor, looking around the room to make sure none of the others had woken up yet. Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Aang were all quietly sleeping in their beds. Red's bed, however was empty. _Eh... She's probably out climbing trees so she can jump down and scare the Dai Li again._ She did that a few days ago and almost got herself arrested, the little turd. Muu and Momo were resting together in a soft lump on top of Red's empty sleeping bag. Still tip-toeing, I changed into some earthbender clothes and put my hair into a simple ponytail as opposed to my usual hair-down look. I took some money from Katara's bag. She insisted upon holding _all_ of the money, considering that the rest of us were apparently 'irresponsible' with our 'spending habits.'

I turned around and gasped in surprise to see Red sitting on the floor beside the door, sharpening her axe. I was almost certain she hadn't been there before. "Whoa, what the-?" I scrambled backwards in surprise. I hadn't expected that.

"I want to know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. _Especially _you." She tossed her axe from hand to hand threateningly. I backed off a bit. "Start talking. Are you training with someone?" I suddenly realized that she was making a _How to Train Your Dragon_ reference. This was the scene when Astrid found out about toothless. "It better not involve _this._" She motioned towards the money that I'd stolen from Katara.

"Okay, okay... I'm going to go get some tea." I confessed. For the past two weeks, I'd been sneaking off to Iroh's tea shop every single morning. It was all the way in the lower ring, so I always had to rent an ostrich horse, which wasn't as expensive as it sounded, and even after that it usually took a while to get to the lower ring. I had to head out early every single morning if I wanted to get to the tea shop and then come back before the others woke up.

"A tea shop, eh?" She raised her eyebrows at me and made them go up and down slowly. "This tea shop wouldn't happen to be in the lower ring of the city, would it?" She narrowed her eyes. I assumed that she knew which tea shop I was talking about.

"Yes. Can you let me go now?" She was still holding her axe. I knew she'd never use it against me, but it was still quite unnerving. "You're reminding me of madame Varcolac, and she's creepy!" As I said the creepy lady's name from the movie The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, I heard a faint howling in the distance. I shivered slightly, then looked at Red.

"Don't worry, that was probably Walt. I taught him to howl when he hears that lady's name, and he has pretty good hearing so yeah."

I gave her a look. "You know it isn't physically possible for us to hear him all the way from under lake Laogai, right?"

"Yeah… But I miss that giant wolf bat. I'm so used to hearing him snore at night…"

"If it makes you feel any better, we'll be getting him back soon." I comforted patting her shoulder gently. She gave me this look like she was about to chop my arm off, and I withdrew.

"I think I'll come with you to the lower ring." Red announced, finally putting her axe away. She saw the look of disappointment on my face and continued. "Don't worry, you can have your alone time with Zuko. I'm not going to the tea shop. I was thinking about looking for Longshot and Smellerbee."

"Alright, then... To the lower ring!" I whispered triumphantly. We finally left the house to go write our own tales about what happened in Ba Sing Se. I was going to go on a date with Zuko!

Zuko's POV:

"Uncle! We have a problem!" I hissed under my breath as I walked back to the counter with a tray of tea. Uncle Iroh was organizing some jars of spices and flavorings that lined the shelves behind the counter. He frowned and climbed down to see what I was talking about. I glanced back at the strange girl sitting at the corner table. She'd been coming here every day for the past couple weeks, and I had a feeling she was onto us, just like that kid with the hook swords. She was wearing normal earthbender clothes and had her wavy brown hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her eyes were blue, which was awfully strange for an Earth Kingdom citizen. "One of the customers is onto us."

"You mean like that coocoo hook sword guy who attacked us two weeks ago?" Ryuu poked his head out of the back room where he was sorting the leaves to make the tea.

I nodded. "Don't look now, but there is a girl over there at the corner table. She knows we're Fire Nation." Both uncle and Ryuu turned their heads in that direction. "Didn't I just say don't look?" I snapped angrily. Uncle smiled at me.

"You're right, Zuko." He whispered. "I've seen that girl in here quite a lot. Seems to me she has quite the little crush on you!"

"What?" I gasped in disbelief. _That's completely ridiculous!_

"Thank you for the tea." A voice interrupted our conversation and I whirled around to see the girl from the corner table standing at the counter. I faced her to collect the money for the tea, then turned around again as fast as I could to put the money where it belonged. _Please go away now..._ I thought awkwardly, hoping that she wouldn't say anything else. "What's your name?" She asked curiously. I turned around to face her again.

"My name's Lee." I answered, trying as hard as I could not to sound awkward. "My uncle, cousin, and I just moved here.

"Hi, Lee." She smiled at me. She seemed familiar somehow, but I pushed the thought away. I'd never seen this girl before in my life. "Tik-" She broke off suddenly, but quickly recovered, "-ila. Tikila. Anyway, I wanted to know if you'd like to go out sometime." My eyes widened in surprise. _NO._

"He'd love to!" Iroh cheered, answering the question before I had the guts to.

"Great!" She cheered, a little too happily. "I'll be in front of the shop at sundown!" She hurried out of the shop without another word. I narrowed my eyes at Iroh.

"Aww, Zu-Zu's got a girlfriend!" Ryuu cooed mockingly.

"Shut up! I never agreed to this!" I sneered angrily. "And I am _not_ going to go through with this!"

Tikaani's POV:

"Aww! You're so adorable!" I ran over to Zuko and ruffled up his neatly assembled hair. He looked a lot better with it ruffled, but as soon as I messed it up, he tried to fix it.

"It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair." He complained, trying to play with it, which just made it even messier.

"Don't worry, it looks a lot better this way! It's so cute!" I fluffed with his hair again, and he pushed me away. "Sorry... Come on, let's go!" I grabbed him by his arm and dragged him off in the direction of the restaurant we'd be eating at. I'd taken my time here in the mornings to memorize some of the city layout so that we wouldn't get lost or anything. I knew exactly where the restaurant was, and the fountain after that. Tonight was going to be absolutely perfect!

As soon as we had arrived at our dining establishment, a waiter seated us and we ordered our food. I ordered some noodles, since that was basically the only thing on the menu that I could read without looking at the book I'd stolen from the library. Sokka had held up on his promise to teach me, but the others soon found out about my inability to read, considering that we all slept in the same room, so we couldn't go anywhere private to study. Anyway, I was the only one trying to make conversation as Zuko and I ate.

"So how do you like the city so far?" I asked casually.

"It's okay." Zuko muttered, playing with a meatball on his plate. I laughed as if something were funny and he raised his eyebrow at me, although it didn't have the proper effect because he really only had one eyebrow. "Is something funny?"

"No... You're just so super cute." I smiled at him. This date was like a dream come true, except for the fact that Zuko was being all anti-conversational. But what else would I expect? "So what do you like to do for fun?"

"Nothing." He answered bitterly. I laughed again.

"No way, me too!" His eye widened and he looked around as if he was super creeped out; and so he should be.

"Excuse me, sir." A waiter walked up to Zuko. "Would you and your girlfriend care for dessert?"

"_SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!_" Zuko shouted viciously as he slammed his fist down on the table. The waiter's eyes widened in fright and he hurried off. I began to stuff my face with noodles and Zuko watched me awkwardly. "You... Have... Quite an appetite for a girl." He observed unsurely as he continued to watch me eat.

"Aww, thanks!" I smiled brightly at him. "You have quite a temper for a boy!"

"Oh… Uh… Thanks…" He played with his thumbs as a long silence stretched over us. I decided to break it.

"So where were you, your uncle, and your cousin living before you came to Ba Sing Se?" I didn't really mind that I was the only one asking questions. After all, I did know how bad Zuko was at talking to girls.

"Um… Well… We've been traveling around… For a long… Time…" He hesitated frequently and stammered a bit as he talked, trying to answer the question without giving himself away as a fugitive of the Fire Nation.

"Why were you traveling so much?" I pressed onwards.

"We were… Uh… uh…" He trailed off and looked away, trying desperately to think of a good lie. "Part of this traveling circus."

"Wow. You are a _really_ terrible liar." I mused, rolling my eyes at him.

His good eye widened in shock. "How did you-"

"Stuttering and hesitating gives it away." I advised. Zuko narrowed his eyes at me, trying to look angry. But underneath that scowl, I could tell that he was actually a little bit impressed, so I continued with my lesson on lying. "You should really try to be more convincing. Try coming up with a story before hand, that way you'll be ready for any questions someone throws at you. And above all, no matter what happens, _never_ make it look like you're trying to think of something. That will give you away too."

"Wait... Are you trying to teach me how to lie?" He asked, astounded. I rolled my eyes.

"Well I'm _trying_, but you're not making it very easy!" I looked around at the people sitting at the other tables. It seemed like the place was getting a little more crowded and noisy. I flattened my eyebrows. "Ugh, we need to ditch this joint!" I put some money on the table to pay for the bill and tip off the waiter. "I know of a place!"

"What?"

"Come on, let's go!" I leaped out of my seat and grabbed him by the arm before dragging him off. We meandered through the streets, heading for the fountain.

"Where are we going?" Zuko demanded.

"It's the Firelight Fountain! The lamps make the water sparkle and it creates cascading arrays of orange lights frolicing through the fountain water!" I described, trying to implant a deep sense of imagery as I dragged him along. I stopped once we had reached the fountain. "I can't believe it! They aren't lit!" I looked down sadly, waiting for Zuko to take the cue and light the candles.

"Close your eyes." He spoke softly. "And don't peak!" He ordered it in a harsher tone.

I smiled at him and closed my eyes. A few seconds passed and I opened one eye to see Zuko standing in front of the fountain. He glanced around nervously before taking a deep breath and waving his hands around in all directions. Fire shot from his fingertips, slowly lighting each and every one of the lamps. I quickly closed my eyes again when I saw that he was turning around to face me. "Okay... Now you can look." I opened my eyes and gazed around at the candles, pretending to be astounded. I stepped forward, staring around in amazement.

"Wow!" The lights were just as beautiful as I had described them to be, but that wasn't what was so amazing about this moment. I walked up to stand beside Zuko. The two of us stared up at the fountain. When he wasn't looking, I grabbed his hand and held it in mine. He looked at me, but I didn't move in for the kiss like Jin had done. "You're an amazing firebender..."

He instantly wrenched away from me, scrambling backwards. "I thought I told you not to peek!" His voice was an even mixture between anger and fear.

"I already knew, Zuko." I stepped towards him, but he took another step backwards and looked around cautiously, as if expecting to be ambushed at any moment. "I don't want to hurt you, or report you to the Dai Li, or anything!" He looked back at me and narrowed his eyes skeptically. My arms were hanging limply at my sides, but as I lifted up my hand to scratch the back of my head, my sleeve fell back to reveal the snake-like burn marks all over my arms.

"You!" His good eye widened. "I knew I recognized you! You're the Water Tribe girl who's traveling with the avatar!"

"I know... And I'm sorry for lying to you." I looked away sadly. This date was _not_ going how I expected it to go. "My name's actually Tikaani... But everything else I told you is true! I don't want to hurt you. I'm not going to turn you into the Dai Li, and I'm not going to bring you to the avatar."

"Then why did you bring me here?" He growled, still looking around as if he expected someone to attack him.

"For a date. You never would have agreed if you knew who I was."

"I've hunted you across the globe... I've attacked you and insulted you... And you still wanted to come on a date with me?" He seemed completely and utterly confused.

"I may be somewhat good at lying, but I never said I was smart." I smiled a little bit, but the smile faded quickly and I looked away. "I know now that this was a mistake." I didn't think I was going to get anything else from Zuko. Probably just some hateful words and angry glares. I sighed and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" I looked back to see Zuko walking up to me. He shuffled awkwardly through his robes until he emerged with a small piece of paper. He handed it to me. "It's a coupon for a free cup of tea." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, then looked away. "I know... We were enemies outside these walls..." He trailed off, unable to finish what he was saying.

I knew what I had to do.

"I have a surprise for you too. Now it's your turn to close your eyes." Zuko hesitated before closing his eyes. I stepped towards him until we were standing only millimeters apart. Then, I leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was short and sweet. I pulled away a little, but then Zuko kissed me back. Floods of fireworks and sparkles swept through me. Both of us pulled away and looked into one another's eyes. Then, Zuko turned around and walked off. "I love you, Zuko..." I whispered as he was walking off. He paused and looked back at me, opening his mouth as if to say it back. He closed it again, then stood there for a few seconds, as if trying to decide whether he should say it or not.

"I... I lo..." He trailed off and shook his head. "I can't." With that, he started walking away again. I stared after him sadly.

"I'm sorry..." I murmured under my breath, turning around to walk away. _I was so close... _

_I was so close... _

_But so far..._

Zuko's POV:

I hurried back to our apartment as fast as I could. My thoughts were whirling like a hurricane in my mind. How could I feel this way about someone who was traveling with the avatar? I was supposed to capture the avatar! Then... Then I could return home, to my father... But now... I was starting to question myself. Is that even what I wanted? Was that ever what I wanted?

I walked in through the front door and closed it behind me without saying a word to my uncle, who was preening some bushes by the window sill, or Ryuu, who was lounging around and drinking tea, as usual.

"How was your night, Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked. I opened the doors to my room, then slammed them shut behind me. I could here Ryuu and Iroh exchanging whispers as soon as I had shut myself inside.

I decided to answer the question after all, so I opened the door a crack. Everything got quiet all of a sudden. "It was nice."

_**The Tale of Red**_

(My sister wrote this one)

Red's POV:

As I had promised Tikaani earlier that day, I was going to scour the lower ring in search of Smellerbee and Longshot while she heated things up with Zuko. As I headed throughout the lower ring, I realized how poor and sad these people were. Every corner I turned around, there were thugs waiting to ambush me, or some little kids that wanted to steal my axe. I tried to sneak past most of them, almost getting caught by a few thugs along the way. I looked around and halted when I saw someone wearing a hat that looked just like Longshot's. I ran up to that person.

"Longshot!" I exclaimed as the person turned around. They weren't Longshot, that's for sure. They gave me a long scathing look before disappearing into the crowd. "Ugh, this is going to be harder than I thought…" I had just realized how many people wore hats just like Longshot's around here. I scanned the crowd with my eyes, just hoping to get a glimpse of either of my Freedom Fighter friends. Just then, the crowd parted and I spotted Longshot a little ways off. He was wearing his usual blue shirt with a red cape, and a straw hat with ragtag armor. That's when I noticed that Smellerbee was next to him, wearing her usual outfit as well. "Smellerbee, Longshot!" I waved at them from where I was standing. Smellerbee just gaped at me like she'd seen a ghost, while Longshot only looked mildly surprise.

"Red?" She gasped as I ran over to them. I gave them both a hug before pulling away and looking at them. Smellerbee continued. "How… We thought you were dead!" Longshot nodded in agreement.

"What? Why would you think that?" I asked quizzically, sincerely puzzled. _Why would they think that?_ I repeated to myself. the two just exchanged quick glances before looking back at me again.

"Jet found your arm blades hidden in a stump in the middle of the woods. In the exact same clearing, we found burn marks on the trees and signs of a struggle." She explained hastily. My eyes widened. They had passed through the area where the Rough Rhinos had attacked me and the others! "After that, Jet wasn't the same. He always seemed down, and when we tried to ask what was wrong, he wouldn't tell us. Even Longshot tried to talk to him, but it was like he was trying to shut everyone, and everything, out."

I tilted my head slightly. "So… He was basically acting depressed?" I inquired. Longshot nodded. "Wait… He cares about me? More than a friend?" I felt hope flutter within myself.

Smellerbee huffed in annoyance. "It was so obvious! You're telling me that you didn't know?"

"No… I didn't. Speaking of Jet, where is he?" I questioned, already knowing the answer. _He was just brainwashed, and now he's probably somewhere else in the lower ring…_ I thought sadly. Now I missed him even more after what Smellerbee and Longshot had told me.

Smellerbee sighed. "He got captured by the Dai Li a few weeks ago… He found a couple of firebenders within the walls, or so he said, and he was set out on exposing them. He attacked them, and the Dai Li arrested him." She seemed sad, and even Longshot was looking at the ground now.

I looked around. It was about time that I got back to the others. "I've been traveling with the Avatar's group." I explained quietly. They gaped at me again and I rolled my eyes. "I know, you must be wondering how I managed to join their group. Well it all started when I was tracking you guys and lost your trail. I ended up at a swamp, and coincidentally, they were lost there too…" I explained as time flew by. Soon, the sun had disappeared behind the walls of the city, and the sky turned from pink to dark blue as stars dotted the sky. "And here I am."

"Wow…" Smellerbee trailed off. "That sounds exciting. Getting trapped in a desert, and losing Walt… I hope you find him soon."

I nodded to both of them. "Yeah, me too…" I looked up at the stars. "I should probably get back to the others before they start wondering where I am. See you guys later!" I called over my shoulder and waved as I began to walk away. _Tomorrow is the day… The day we find Walt._

_And the day we find Jet._

**I'm sorry that there is no Tale of Ryuu. I honestly couldn't think of any ideas regarding him. I mean he could have gone on a date with Jin, but that would have been a little redundant. **


	30. Chapter 29: Falling Apart

Red's POV:

"We found a printer to make our posters!" Katara cheered happily as her, Tikaani, and Aang returned from their morning outing. She held up an expertly drawn picture of Walt while Aang held up an expertly drawn picture of Appa.

"I thought designing the posters was our job, sugar queen!" I protested, narrowing my eyes. I had drawn out pictures of Walt _and_ Appa that looked like Meelo's drawing of Korra in Season 4 Episode 4 of the Legend of Korra. It wasn't as good as the expert printer's version, but it was still quite a quality picture!

"Yeah!" Sokka agreed, nodding vigorously. "We've been working all day on our Appa and Walt!"

"Well _I've_ been working on my Appa and Walt," I corrected, "but _he's_ been working on potatoes with arrows and wings."

"Hey!" Sokka protested grumpily.

"They look great to me!" Toph complimented, smiling.

"Thank you, I worked really-" He stopped, suddenly remembering that Toph was blind. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

"I think we're going to stick with the professional version." Tikaani announced. Sokka angrily ripped his drawings to shreds, but I stuffed mine into my pockets. The pictures that I had drawn of Walt were totes adorbs.

"Come on, let's get busy!" Aang cried, pulling wads of posters out of his bag excitedly. Him and Momo left to spread the fliers all around the city, raining them down on civilians.

I looked out the window and watched the paper rain down.

By the end of the day, we'd find Jet.

"Red?" I turned around. Tikaani looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "Will you tell me how you're going to save Jet's sorry butt _now_?"

"Come on. Let's go hang up some posters." _Not yet, Tikaani._ She gave me an angry look.

_I'm sorry... But if you knew how I was going to save Jet..._

_You wouldn't let me do it._

_And I have to do this._

_My own way._

_I'm sorry._

Ryuu's POV:

"So you're the genius behind this incredible brew!" I looked up from my spot behind the counter as a very official-looking man addressed Iroh. He held up a cup of tea. "The whole city is buzzing about you! I hope Pao pays you well."

"Good tea is its own reward." Iroh spoke wisely. I intently watched the exchange as I wrote down the next order, some guards at the center table to the left who wanted some chamomile.

"But it doesn't have to be the only reward." The man replied. I stopped writing down the order and paid closer attention. "How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

"My own tea shop?" Iroh gasped in shock.

"His own tea shop?" I chimed in excitedly.

"This is a dream come true!" Iroh exclaimed. I doubted I was as excited as Iroh was, but I came pretty close. Tea was the most amazing beverage in the world!

"What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my tea maker?" Pao stood defensively in front of Iroh.

"Sorry pal, but that's business for you, am I right?" The official-looking man snickered.

"Mushi, if you stay, I'll make you assistant manager." Pao tried to convince Iroh to stay. "Wait, _senior_ assistant manager!"

"I'll provide you with a new apartment in the upper ring. The tea shop is yours to do whatever you want: complete creative freedom." The official man explained.

"I even get to name the shop?" Iroh questioned disbelievingly.

"Of course!"

"Senior _executive_ assistant manager?" Pao attempted weakly. Iroh handed him his tea pot, then dipped his head to the official-looking man.

"Did you hear nephews?" Iroh looked from Zuko to me. "This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring of the city!"

"That's right, young men! Your lives are about to change for the better!"

"I'll try to contain my joy." Zuko seethed as he slammed his tray onto a table before walking out of the shop.

"I WON'T!" I cried excitedly, ripping off my apron and throwing it onto the ground. "It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se!" I sang at the top of my lungs as I fought the urge to jump onto a table and start dancing.

Tikaani's POV:

"I've just finished dropping all the leaflets!" Aang exclaimed as he returned from his little adventure. Sokka and Katara were playing Mahjong, Toph was picking her toes, and Red and I were chatting in the corner. "Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"

"It's only been a day." Katara replied.

"Yeah." I agreed. "It'll probably be a couple days before we get any-" I was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Wow, that was fast!" Aang dashed over to the door as fast as he could and he flung it open excitedly. "Joo Dee?"

"Hello, Aang. And Katara. And Sokka. And Toph. And Red. And Tikaani." Joo Dee greeted each of us in a really slow, creepy voice.

"What happened to you?" Sokka wondered aloud. "Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?"

"What? Jail?" Joo Dee waved the thought away. "Of course not. Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."

"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party." Toph protested.

"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country. It was quite relaxing."

"Then what about that other chick who said she was Joo Dee?" Red asked raising an eyebrow at the super creepy smile factory.

"But I'm Joo Dee." Joo Dee smiled widely at us.

"Why are you here?" Aang asked.

"Dropping fliers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city. Not without proper clearance." Joo Dee informed, still smiling.

"WTF? The next thing we know, we'll have to get permission to eat food at a certain time or go to bed passed curfew. I'll tell you what: We are NOT going to wait around and ask for permission on EVERY SINGLE thing we do!" I growled irritably.

"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."

Aang's head swelled to the size of a very large watermelon. "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES, AND WE'RE _NOT_ ASKING PERMISSION! WE'RE FINDING APPA ON OUR OWN AND YOU SHOULD JUST STAY OUT OF OUR WAY!" Aang screamed as loudly and angrily as he possibly could. She backed up until she was completely outside the house. Aang then proceeded to slam the door shut in Joo Dee's face.

"That might come back to bite us in the blubber." Sokka mumbled.

"I don't care. From now on, we do whatever it takes to find Appa."

"Yeah! Let's break some rules!" Toph exclaimed, lifting her hands into the air triumphantly. She completely desecrated an entire section of the wall, sending wood and glass flying everywhere. Momo and Red exited the house from the wall that Toph destroyed, but I, along with everyone else, used the doorway like normal people. Muu followed behind and I handed him an apple slice. He loved apple slices. He also liked chewing on my shoes and trying to trip me while I walked. I picked him up and put him in my bag so I wouldn't step on him.

Ryuu's POV:

Iroh and I were sitting around a small tea table, packing our bags while we discussed the name of our new teashop. I really liked the sound of _The Jasmine Dragon_. Especially since jasmine was my favorite kind of tea! Of course, we would have to ask Zuko first. Soon, the door opened and the angsty prince came in from his walk.

"We were discussing names for the new teashop." Iroh announced as Zuko made his way inside. "How about _The Jasmine Dragon_? It's dramatic, poetic… Has a nice ring to it!" Zuko unbuttoned his robe and pulled out a piece of paper. He showed it to the two of us. It had a picture of a flying bison on it.

"The avatar has lost his bison. He's here."

"That's a weird name for a tea shop." Zuko shot me a dirty look. He handed the flier to Iroh.

Iroh hesitantly took the paper and glanced at it before putting it down. "We have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us.

"Good things that are happening for you!" Zuko snapped. "Have you ever thought that I want more from my life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"

"There's nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity!" I argued.

"Easy for you to say!" Zuko sneered, glaring at me furiously. "Your life is perfect."

"I had no family, no friends, and basically no identity until I met you and your uncle. I'm only just starting to remember what my life was like before all of this, and what I do remember about that life is anything but perfect." I countered angrily. "Get it into your thick skull that you aren't the only one around here who's having a rough time right now. You've just got to stop being a prick in the side about it and start finding ways to deal with your pain like I have!" It was true. Ever since I'd had those flashbacks, I'd been having nightmares. I just had the good sense not to tell anyone about them, and not telling anyone about my pain. I put on a smile and pretended to be happy, because that was the only way I knew how to deal with the hurt.

I had no family. I had no friends. I didn't have anything. Until I met Iroh and Zuko. _They _were my family now... But still, I wanted more. I needed to talk to someone who knew what happened to my real family. I'd given up hope on that months ago, so I was trying to deal with it the best way I knew how. Couldn't Zuko do the same?

Red's POV:

"We'll split up to cover more area." Sokka announced. "Toph, you should come with me…"

"Why? Because you think I can't put up posters on my own?" Toph ripped the paintbrush out of Sokka's hand, smeared some glue on the wall, and stuck a poster to it. The poster was backwards. No one said anything. "It's upside down, isn't it? I'll just go with Sokka…" The two of them headed off. Katara began to go down the alleyway to the left, but I jumped in her way.

"I call this direction!" I shouted loudly, running down the alleyway. I was going to be the one seeing Jet, not Katara! I looked back to see Tikaani, Katara, and Aang all go down different alleyways. Tikaani turned around and gave me a thumbs up to show she understood why I was going in this direction. I smiled widely and scurried down the alleyway. It opened up into a square with a water canal going through it. I walked over to the water tower and began gluing a poster of Appa and a poster of Walt to the tower.

"Red?" I closed my eyes and relished in the sound of that familiar voice. After such a long time of waiting, I was finally going to be reunited with Jet! "Red?" I turned around and looked down one of the alleyways to see a relatively tall shadow lurking there. He stepped out into the sunlight. "RED!" He cried happily as he sprinted over to where I was hanging the posters. My eyes widened. For a second, I thought he was going to run me over, but then he picked me up and spun me in the air before putting me down again. I stared at him with my eyes widened. I hadn't been expecting that. And as if that wasn't enough, Jet pulled me into a hug and didn't let me go for a few minutes.

"Oof..." I gasped for breath as he basically squeezed the air out of me. "Could you loosen up a bit?" He let go of me and looked into my eyes. "Jeez. What was that for?" I asked, even though I already knew. _Jet thought you were dead. Right now, it's like you're coming back to life for him._

"I thought you were dead..." Jet gaped at me as if he were seeing a ghost. "You're not dead, are you?"

I really wanted to ask him if a dead person could do this, and then kiss him. I _really_ wanted to kiss him. I _really, really _wanted to kiss him... But before I could, some strange feelings started creeping into me. _What if he doesn't kiss you back?_ _What if he doesn't feel the same way?_ I pushed those doubts aside. _Of course he feels the same way, Smellerbee said it was obvious!_ I argued with myself. _Face it, Red, he does _not _like you..._

"What? Of course I'm not dead, stupid!" I laughed joyfully and punched him on the shoulder, which hurt a little because of his shoulder pads.

"I'm so glad to see you're alright! I was so worried about you..." I blinked at Jet, surprised. He wasn't usually the soft kind of guy. "I found these in the woods and I thought something happened to you." Jet began to pull the metal bands off of his arms and I gaped at them. I had been so involved with Jet that I hadn't even noticed it.

"My arm blades!" I chucked the axe aside and pried my precious babies out of Jet's hands before slipping them back onto my arms. Oh, how I missed that feeling. "Oh, sweet mamma, I could kiss you right now!" I exclaimed excitedly. My eyes widened and I could feel the heat rising in my face. I tried to fight down the blushes, but it was too late. I swear my face was the same color as a fire truck.

"I told you I heard something!" I whirled around to see everyone from the Gaang running up to me. "Why don't you tell everyone what's going on, Red?" Tikaani snickered mischievously.

"Jet's back." I sighed happily as I looked back at the tall, handsome guy standing somewhere behind me. _Oh, sweet sugar candy on my eye holes and mayor of hunkytown!_ I laughed inwardly at my own _How to Build a Better Boy_ reference.

"We can't trust anything he says!" Katara growled. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"And why is that, Katara? He's never done anything wrong to you!" I spat

"Are you kidding me? He almost wiped out an entire town!" Katara protested with open hostility.

"Or maybe you're just jealous!" Tikaani piped up, snickering at Katara.

"I'm here to help you find Appa and Walt." Jet defended, pulling two pieces of paper out of his back pocket. One of the fliers had Appa on it; the other had Walt.

"We have to give him a chance, Katara." Aang tried to convince her.

Katara narrowed her eyes at Jet. "No. He's lying about everything he says!"

"He's _not_ lying." Toph announced, shifting her feet a little bit as she said so. "I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie there is a physical reaction. He's telling the truth."

"And it's not like we have any other leads!" Tikaani chimed. "Jet's word is the only thing we have. We have to go check it out!"

"We can take the train out to the wall, but then we'll have to walk." Sokka announced as we trekked back towards the wall of Ba Sing Se. We had just finished talking to Old Sweepy, and we were apparently on our way to Whale Tail Island to find Appa and Walt.

"Don't worry! On the way back, we'll be flying!" Aang cheered excitedly. He smiled widely at all of us.

"Oh, how I miss Walt…" I sighed.

"We're finally leaving Ba Sing Se!" Toph exclaimed with a sigh of relief. "Worst. City. Ever!" She threw her hands into the air happily.

"Jet!" Smellerbee's voice called from somewhere behind us. I turned around to see her and Longshot a little ways down the street.

"What are they doing here?" Katara snarled, glaring at Jet. "You didn't tell me that you had the Freedom Fighters with you!"

"I don't!" Jet turned around to see what Katara was talking about. Smellerbee dashed over to Jet and hugged him. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"We were so worried! How did you get away from the Dai Li?" She looked at Jet in shock, and then she looked over at me. "Oh, hey Red!"

"The Dai Li?" Katara gasped in shock. Her eyes widened and she stared at Jet.

"I don't know what she's talking about!" Jet looked at Smellerbee like she was crazy.

"He got arrested by the Dai Li a couple weeks ago." Smellerbee explained. Now both her and Jet looked extremely confused. "We saw them drag him away!"

"Why would I be arrested? I've been living peacefully in the city."

"This doesn't make any sense. They're _both_ telling the truth!" Toph felt the ground with her hand and reported her findings.

"That's impossible!" Katara seethed, glaring at Jet.

"No it's not. You can't tell who's lying because they both think they're telling the truth." Sokka reasoned.

"OMG, JET'S BEEN BRAINWASHED!" Tikaani gasped in mock shock.

"Hey, I wanted to say that!" Sokka complained loudly and unecesarily.

"That's crazy! It can't be!" Jet shook his head furiously, his bushy hair waving from side to side attractively. "Stay away from me!" He looked around in panic as we all began to close in around him.

Tikaani's POV:

"The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us." Katara announced as we all gathered in a circle around Jet, who was sitting on a small footstool in the corner of the room as if he were some naughty child being punished on a time out. "And that janitor was a part of their plot too!"

"I bet they have Appa and Walt here in the city. Maybe they're in the same place they took Jet!" Aang seemed very giddy at the fact that we were getting closer to finding Appa. "Where did they take you?"

"Nowhere! I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Jet objected. I had to feel bad for him. He seemed extremely confused, not as confused as Zuko, but confused enough for me to feel sorry for him!

"We need to find a way to make him remember! We need something to jog his real memories!" I suggested. "But what?"

"Maybe Katara could kiss him." Sokka smirked teasingly at his sister. "That should bring something back." He raised and lowered his eyebrows at Katara.

"That's a terrible idea." Red snapped, scowling at Sokka like she was going to rip his throat out any second. "Any good ones in that stupid little head of yours, brainiac?"

"Don't worry, I have a backup idea!" Sokka raced over to the mattress and pulled out a long strand of wheat. He strolled back over and stuck the wheat into Jet's mouth.

"I don't think it's working." Jet just sat there and stared at Sokka before spitting the weed onto the floor.

"Try thinking about something from your past that triggers your emotions." Toph tried.

"The Fire Nation! Remember what they did to your family!" Red urged. "What you thought they did to me. Close your eyes and picture it."

Jet took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few moments. He shut them as hard as he could. Within a few seconds, sweat started dripping down his face. His eyes shot open and he sat forward. "No! It's too painful…"

"Maybe I can help." I stepped forward and took some bending water out of my pouch. I might not be as strong of a healer as Katara was, but I could do something as simple as fix someone's memory. I held two large water bubbles to Jet's ears and focused on the good feels, letting my positive energies fill the water. The water started glowing blue and Jet shut his eyes.

"They took me to a headquarters under the water... Like a lake." Jet recalled, opening his eyes. I couldn't believe that my healing powers had actually worked!

"Wait! Remember what Joo Dee said?" Sokka asked as he looked around at all of us. "She said she went on a vacation to Lake Laogai."

"That's it!" Jet stood to his full height. He was easily taller than anyone else in the room. "Lake Laogai."

Red sighed next to me and basically melted. "Lake what?"

"Lake Laogai." Jet repeated.

"OMG. It sounds so freaking hot when he says it." Red swooned.

Red's POV:

"So where is this secret headquarters?" Sokka asked. It was the next morning, and we were all standing around the edge of the lake. I was standing by Jet's side.

"Under the water... I think." Jet rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"There's a tunnel right there near the shore." Toph announced, pointing in one direction. She walked in that direction, whistling peacefully. Once she came to the shore, she earthbended the tunnel out of the water. She opened the hatch and we all stared down into the dark hole. Jet went first, I followed, Smellerbee and Longshot came in after me, and so on. Then we proceeded through the vast expanse of tunnels intertwining and crisscrossing as they did so.

"It's all starting to come back to me..." Jet announced as we trekked through the empty corridors. He walked towards a door and peeked inside. It was the room with the army of Joo Dees inside. We continued to traverse the halls, searching for a cell big enough to hold Appa.

"Red." I stopped and turned around. Tikaani was lingering at the back of the group and I motioned for the others to go ahead. Once they were all ahead of us, I fell into place beside Tikaani. "We're almost there. Why haven't you told me how you're going to save Jet?"

I sighed. "Listen, Tikaani... I've already decided how I want to save Jet. I've already decided that I need to do this on my own. _I_ have to be the one to save Jet. If I told you how I plan to save him, you... You wouldn't let me do it."

Tikaani's eyes widened at me. "Red, what are you planning on doing? I don't want you to do anything rash!"

"I'm not going to do anything rash. I already know what I have to do to save Jet." I looked away from Tikaani. I didn't want her to read the look in my eyes. If she saw my eyes, they would tell her how afraid I was. I was determined, but I was afraid. If she saw my fear, she might guess what I was going to do. "And I need you to promise me that you won't interfere."

I looked back at her to see that she was looking away too. She was considering whether or not it would be a good idea to make this promise. "I promise." Tikaani finally agreed.

"Good. Because we're here." I looked ahead. We had reached a trapezoid-shaped door.

"I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa behind these doors." Jet pried the door open with his swords and we walked into a huge, dome-shaped room. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind us. We all gaped up at the ceiling. Dai Li agents were hanging like spider monkeys.

"Now that's something different." Sokka observed as if we weren't about to be attacked by Dai Li agents.

"You have made yourselves enemies of the state." Long Feng announced. "Take them into custody." He ordered to the Dai Li agents. They fell from the ceiling and fired their rocky gloves at us, but Toph destroyed the gloves easily. She made two large rock pedestals that shot the two Dai Li agents into the air. I took this as a call to action and I charged at a pair of Dai Li agents. With one swift swipe of my arm blades, I destroyed their rock gloves and kicked one in the side. The other tried to punch me in the face, but I ducked and kicked him in the place where the sun don't shine.

After beating a bunch of Dai Li agents in this same way, I noticed Jet and Aang race out of the room. "Long Feng is escaping!" Aang cried. He earthbended a hole in the wall and him and Jet ran out, giving chase. In the cover of the rock dust, I followed them, stopping when the two of them reached the room where Long Feng would be waiting for them. Before Long Feng locked them inside, I slunk through the shadows and hid where no one could see me. I would come out when it was time for me to make my move... _I'm going to save Jet, no matter what the cost._

Ryuu's POV:

"So, the Blue Spirit..." Iroh mused. We had noticed Zuko sneaking out of the house in his Blue Spirit outfit last night and we had followed him to some secret headquarters beneath a lake in the country. A Dai Li agent had led him to the hideout and to this dome-shaped room, at which point Zuko had tied him up and locked him inside some Dai Li cleaning closet. Inside the dome shaped room was the avatar's bison and a wolf bat, both of which were chained to the floor. "I wonder who could be behind that mask?" He stroked his goatee and looked at Zuko curiously.

Zuko sighed and removed the mask. "What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing." I responded.

"What do you plan to do now that you've found the avatar's bison and his friend's wolf bat?" Iroh inquired further, stepping closer to Zuko. "Keep them locked in our new apartment? Should we go put on a pot of tea for them?"

"First I have to get them out of here." Zuko replied, looking back at the creatures, who were both growling at us.

"And then what?" Iroh asked furiously. At this point, I decided not to say anything. This was between Iroh and Zuko, not me. "You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the avatar at the North Pole! You had him, then you had nowhere to go!" I looked at the ground, remembering how I'd helped Zuko with that one. I could be pretty absent-minded sometimes too.

"I would have figured something out!" Zuko growled. _No you wouldn't have..._

"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!" _Yeah... Not exactly our best idea ever..._ _Seriously, it's like a firebender's prison up there..._

"I know my own destiny, uncle." Zuko returned, turning his head away from Iroh and I.

"Is it your own destiny or is it a destiny that someone else has tried to force on you?" Iroh retorted smartly. Zuko's eyebrow flattened in rage.

"Stop it, uncle!" He turned his entire body to face the bison. "I have to do this!"

"I'm _begging_ you, Prince Zuko!" Iroh hollered. His voice echoed off of the stone walls of the dome that surrounded us. "It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions: who are you, and what do you want?" Zuko let out a loud yell of rage and threw his swords and mask to the ground.

"You know, uh... I think I'm going to go out and... Guard the door... While you figure it out." I announced, opening the door and leaving the room. It was _way_ too awkward in there for me. Almost as soon as I stood out there to guard the door, I heard a voice coming from around the corner.

"Why the bleeding hog monkeys did you bring that _thing_ down here?" Someone sneered.

"I bought it at the black market, but my wife won't let me keep it at home! She's allergic to ostrich horses." I rolled my eyes. _Who in their right mind would bring an ostrich horse to some secret hideout under a lake?_ The footsteps grew louder. "Long Feng said I could keep her here! But he wasn't very happy about it..."

"So where are you going to keep it?" The first voice wondered.

"He told me to chain it down in the room with the avatar's bison and wolf bat." The second voice explained. The footsteps were loud enough to be right around the corner. Two Dai Li agents walked around the corner, smiling, but stopped as soon as they saw me standing there. One of them was leading an ostrich horse by a rope. The ostrich horse had its head dipped in sorrow and was walking very slowly, as if depressed. I peered closer at it.

"Uma?!" The ostrich horse immediately lifted her head and looked in my direction. She let out a happy cry and headbutted the guard holding her rope, easily knocking him unconscious. She kicked the other one into a wall and charged towards me. She stopped and began to nuzzle me while she made soft, happy noises. I hugged her. "UMA!" The door opened behind me and Iroh and Zuko walked out. They both looked at me strangely. "It's Uma!" I smiled brightly.

Red's POV:

As soon as I was safely hidden, Long Feng slammed the door shut and faced Aang and Jet. "All right, avatar, you've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance! If you want your bison back..."

"You do have Appa!" Aang accused. "Tell me where he is!" He stomped forward.

"Agree to exit the city now and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet." Long Feng bargained.

"You're in no position to bargain!" Jet sneered, holding up his swords threateningly.

"Am I not?" Long Feng smiled maniacally.

"You're definitely not!" Aang assured.

"Jet. The Earth King has invited you to lake Laogai."

Jet's pupils dilated. _And... There goes his iris... _"I am honored to accept his invitation." He whispered in a trance-like state. He turned around and slashed towards Aang with one of his hook swords. I held my ground through the entire fight. _It isn't time yet... You're right behind Long Feng, you can jump out when it's time..._

"Jet, you don't have to do this!" Aang wasn't attacking Jet at all, even though Jet was obviously trying to kill him. I had to remember to thank him for that later... If I ever got the chance...

"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice." Long Feng hissed. Jet continued to jab and swipe forward, but Aang just evaded and avoided, common airbender tactics.

"Jet, I'm your friend! Look inside your heart!" Aang pressed.

"Do your duty, Jet!" Long Feng commanded. Jet stepped towards Aang. My heart pounded faster inside my chest. I had to be ready to move. I slunk through the shadows behind Long Feng. I had to be in the proper position...

"He can't make you do this!" Aang shouted. "You're a freedom fighter!" Jet's eyes widened and he stood up straight. I knew the visions were flooding back to him, and I didn't have much time.

"Do it! Do it now!" Long Feng snarled.

Everything moved in slow motion as I leaped out of hiding. Jet whirled around and hurled one of his hook swords in Long Feng's direction. I ran as fast as I could. Long Feng Ducked as the sword imbedded itself into the wall, then jabbed his fist forward.

"JET, NO!" I pushed Jet out of the way and took the full impact of the rock that had been meant to kill him. The giant rock shoved me to the ground with immense force. I skidded across the cold floor. Pain seared through my entire body, inside and out.

"Foolish girl. You've chosen your own demise." I heard Long Feng's voice, but I didn't pay any attention to what he was saying. How could I when I was in so much pain? Long Feng quickly made his getaway, by which point, Jet and Aang were already by my side.

"RED!" Jet cried desperately as he looked down at me. I smiled up at him weakly. He was looking at me as if I'd already died, which I was probably going to anyway.

"Hey..." I greeted as I smiled up at him.

"Why would you do something like that?" Jet questioned in disbelief. He fell to his knees at my side and crouched over my battered and bruised body.

"I never want to see you get hurt..." I croaked. It was getting more difficult to talk.

"Red, you can't die!" Jet pressed urgently. The sadness in his eyes were stronger than any kind of sadness I'd ever seen before. "I've already lost you once, I can't lose you again!"

"Oh, stop being a baby about it..." I murmured softly, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach, and ribs, and lungs, and head, and... Well, everywhere... "It's not the end of the world."

"It'll be the end of my world!" Jet insisted. I could almost detect tears in his eyes. "You can't die! Not before I get the chance to tell you how I feel about you. I love you, Red!"

I beamed up at him as brightly as I could. Pain was now starting to envelop my whole body, but even that couldn't ruin this moment for me. "I love you too, Jet." Without warning, Jet kissed me full on the lips. I closed my eyes to relish in the feeling of his lips pressed against mine. All of my pain seemed to dissolve like snow in the spring time. It drifted away like leaves in the wind. I heard the sound of a rock door sliding open and Jet pulled away. The pain instantly returned, this time more intense than it had been before. Struggling not to lose consciousness, I could almost feel myself slipping away, but I hung on for as long as I could...

Tikaani's POV:

I slapped another Dai Li agent in the face with a huge chunk of ice hard enough to knock him out cold. I looked around the room. The bodies of Dai Li agents littered the ground. None of them were dead, of course, but none of them were conscious either. I looked around the room in satisfaction to see that everyone else was perfectly fine, but frowned when I noticed that Red wasn't there. "Where's Red?"

"She went after Aang and Jet." Toph explained.

My eyes widened as the pieces slowly began to pull together. "_If I told you how I plan to save him, you... You wouldn't let me do it."_ I remembered my conversation with Red earlier. "_I'm not going to do anything rash. I already know what I have to do to save Jet."_ She had looked away from me right then, but I suddenly realized that there was something in her voice buried below the determination. "_And I need you to promise me that you won't interfere."_ She had been afraid. _No... It can't be..._ "We _have_ to find them NOW!"

"They went this way!" Toph announced, running through an abnormally large hole in the wall. _Well I could have figured that one out..._ We followed Toph through the hallways until we reached what seemed to be a dead end. Toph bended a door-shaped section of the wall out of the way so we could see inside.

I gaped in horrified dismay at the scene before me. Red was lying motionless on the floor with Jet and Aang crouched over her. I stood there for a few seconds, too stunned to move. I was mortified, but I managed to get a hold of myself, rushing over to Red's side as fast as I could. I collapsed to my knees beside her, whipping out my pouch of bending water to assess the damages. I closed my eyes and concentrated as hard as I could. The chi paths flowing through Red's body allowed me insight into what all had gone wrong. She had a lot of broken ribs, heavy internal bleeding, and her lungs seemed to have taken a large part of the impact, making it difficult for her to breathe. "This isn't good..." I announced. Tears stung the edges of my vision.

"You guys go and find Appa and Walt. We'll take care of Red." Smellerbee insisted. I looked up at her and the others.

"No, you have to help her!" Jet argued furiously. He glared at Smellerbee.

"Jet's right. I am _not_ going to leave her." I declared determinedly. I wasn't about to leave my best friend here to die... Then, a question came to me. _If she dies in the show... Will she die in real life?_

"There's no time, just go." Longshot looked up at us sadly. "She's one of us. We'll take care of her."

Red's eyes flickered in my direction. "Just go. I'll be fine." She looked as if she was struggling to speak.

The others started to walk away, but I didn't follow. "You guys get Appa and Walt back. I'm staying here with Red." I didn't look up to see their reactions, but I heard them walking away. I refocused my attention back to Red. I wished now more than ever that I had attended at least one of the healing lessons in the North Pole. For now, I had to make do. I studied her chi-paths once more, further assessing the damage that Long Feng had caused. The five broken ribs would be easy to fix. The damaged lung tissue and internal bleeding was a whole different story. I focused extensively on my waterbending skills as I split each water droplet to a microscopic, molecular size, then pushed it slowly through her skin and into her insides. The skin absorbed it and I focused the water on her insides. I mended the ribs as best I could, but the lung tissue was much to difficult. No matter what I did, it didn't seem to do any good. Red groaned in pain and shook her head slowly. "Hang in there!" I encouraged as I continued my efforts to save her. _She has to be okay. She has to live through this. She's my best friend._

"Tikaani..." Her smile wavered for the first time since I'd been there. "I'm not going to make it..."

"Yes you are!" I insisted. I ripped off my necklace with the spirit oasis water trapped inside. I had to save Red. I didn't know if dying here would reflect in real life, and I wasn't about to take the chance. I had wanted to save the spirit water to use on Zuko after his Agni-Kai with Azula, but Red... Red was much more important to me than Zuko ever could be.

"The spirit water?" She asked weakly. I could see how much energy it took for her to say even one word, so I tried to shush her as I uncapped the lid. She kept talking. "I thought you were going to save it for Zuko..." She whispered it under her breath so that Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot couldn't hear her.

"You're more important than Zuko." I responded. I bended the spirit water into microscopic droplets, than into her body where I could properly heal her internal wounds. The spirit water washed over her broken ribs, reaffirming the weak reattachments from my first attempt. The water skimmed over her stomach, intestines, and lungs, repairing the tissue damage and stopping the blood that had been slowly leaking out of the wounds. The blood that had already leaked internally was a problem too. Last night had been a full moon. If this had happened then, I would be able to return the missing blood to its proper place using a skill that I only knew about because of the episodes that I had watched time and time again... But now, bloodbending was impossible. But I had to do it. I mustered up every ounce of energy I had to focus on the blood that had leaked. With my entire mind focused on just that one task, with every waterbending gene within my body, I focused on the blood. It was impossible to bloodbend when it wasn't a full moon. But I did it. I did it because I had to. I did it because it was the only way to save the life of my best friend in the whole world. Even though it wasn't a full moon, my devotion was strong enough to split the blood molecules as tiny as they could be and slowly phase them through Red's organs, and back into the arteries that they had leaked from.

By the time I opened my eyes, I was breathing hard. I was exhausted from the effort, but I didn't care. I looked down at Red. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. It wasn't a raspy breath; it was slow, calm, and peaceful. She was just unconscious. She would need a lot of follow-up healing sessions to completely recover, but she would live.

"She's going to live... But we need to get out of here." I remembered from the episode after this one that the Dai Li had flooded their hideout. I wasn't really sure when they were going to do it, or how long it took them, so we needed to get out of here _now_. As if on cue, a large wolf bat flew into the room, screech-barking madly. "Walt!" Then, a hole opened up in the ceiling and Appa flew down into the giant chamber.

"Did you save her?" Katara asked worriedly. Aang, Sokka, and Toph were sitting on Appa's head with her.

"Yes, but we need to get out of here!" Looking up, I realized that Katara had temporarily held off the lake water from flooding the place with a wall of ice, while Toph had used earthbending to open an Appa-sized hole in the roof. They brought Appa down to us. Longshot, Smellerbee, and I climbed onto Appa's back while Jet carried Red onto Walt with lifted off into the sky. Toph closed the roof hole and Katara collapsed her ice wall. With that, we flew off, into the light of the setting sun.

I smiled too, with one happy thought resonating through my mind. _Red is going to live..._

**Okay.**

**I absolutely love this episode. I have been looking forward to writing this chapter for a long, long time. And here it finally is. **

**It was all my sister's idea to have Red risk her life to save Jet. I was very opposed to the idea at first, because I didn't want Red to actually die. My sister didn't want Red to die either, but it would have been impossible to save Red without the spirit water, so I thought that this was the perfect moment for Tikaani to use it, and a perfect opportunity for an emotional moment between Red and Tikaani. (And also Red and Jet! :3**


	31. Chapter 30: Camp Red

Tikaani's POV:

"I missed you more than you'll ever know, buddy." Aang cooed as he hugged Appa's enormous head. His arms didn't even go a quarter of the way around the bison's head. Appa licked Aang and he laughed before falling to the ground. I smiled as I watched the scene.

"Look, we escaped from the Dai Li, we got Appa back, I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan!" Sokka tried to convince us to go along with his plan, but he might as well not even bother. Toph was sitting on the ground picking her toes, Katara was giving Red another follow-up healing session, I was really too busy playing with Muu-who had been in my bag during the whole 'Lake Laogai' thing (I'd been really careful while I was fighting to make sure no rocks hit my bag, and that I didn't jostle him around too much)-Aang was too busy with Appa, and the Freedom Fighters were waiting for Red to wake up. She'd been out cold since yesterday's attack. "We're on a roll!"

"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll!" Katara chastised as she continued her healing.

"And some of us barely made it out of there alive!" I growled as I momentarily focused my attention away from Muu. He immediately became angry and started tugging on my shoe. I patted him on the head and handed him another apple slice.

"But if we want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens, we need the Earth King's support!" Sokka argued.

"And what makes you think we'll get it?" Toph asked. "I don't know if you've noticed, but things don't go that smoothly for our little gang."

"I know, but I've got a good feeling about this!" Sokka urged triumphantly. "This time will be different."

"But Long Feng's still in control of the city." Jet suddenly said, standing up from the spot where he'd been sitting, watching Red. "He could do the same thing to any of us that he did to Red."

"Why are you talking as if you're one of us?" Katara hissed, turning on Jet. She almost forgot to keep working on Red, but went back to her healing rhythm hastily once she noticed. Red let out a slow, painful groan in her sleep. Jet narrowed his eyes at Katara and turned away from her. I could tell that he didn't want to say anything hurtful to her because she was still working on Red, and he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her healing process. Smellerbee and Longshot didn't say anything. They just exchanged a knowing glance.

"The conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful. Let's just leave the stupid city behind and get help somewhere else." I advised. Katara and Toph seemed to like that plan.

"I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se! AND I CAN'T EVEN SEE!" Toph declared vehemently.

"But now that we have Appa back, there's nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth! About the conspiracy and the war!" Aang boosted himself into the air and landed next to Sokka, literally jumping into the conversation.

"See, Aang's with me!" Sokka pulled Aang closer and smiled. "It's the whole reason we came here in the first place, we have to try!"

"What about Red? If we go to the Earth King, that means leaving her here!" I pointed out. "And I don't know if you've noticed, but there are Dai Li ships searching for us even as we speak." I pointed out towards the lake, where three ships were sailing a long ways away. "We can't take her with, but we can't leave her here either..." Everyone exchanged a glance. They knew what I was saying was true. Nearby, Walt bark-screeched, as if in agreement.

"We can protect her." Jet answered, pulling out his hook swords. Longshot readied his bow and Smellerbee pulled out a crooked knife. My eyes widened.

"But the three of you can't take on three shipfulls of Dai Li at once!" I looked around, trying to think of a solution. My eyes flickered to the grove of trees on our small island. "You could probably hide Red up there. If the Dai Li spot you, you could make a quick getaway on Walt. He would have to make two trips, of course, but it's better than nothing. And, once we're done with the Earth King, we can come back for you." Everyone seemed to think that this was an agreeable plan. Katara concluded the healing session as quickly as she could. Then, Jet picked Red out of the water and started for the trees, Smellerbee and Longshot not too far behind. I picked up Muu and put him in my bag.

We all boarded Appa and started towards the Earth King's palace. The fight to get there was _not_ easy. We had to go through platoon after platoon of earth soldiers, who were all crazy good at earthbending. Luckily, Toph and Aang were able to deflect most of the attacks and disable most of the guards. Katara and I just whipped a couple with our waterbending. Then, Toph made the stairs up to the palace into this huge slides, and all the guards started slipping down it. We were going up the slide, and I felt bad for the people who were going down. They were probably going to break a ton of bones.

Ryuu's POV:

I tied Uma out front as we finally reached our apartment in the lower ring. We still hadn't finished packing everything yet. It didn't really matter yet, though. I stroked Uma a bit before following Zuko and Iroh into the house. I closed the door behind me.

"You did the right thing, letting the avatar's bison and his friend's wolfbat go free." Iroh smiled. I, too, was happy that Zuko had set them free. I didn't have time to make enough tea for a ten ton bison every morning!

"I don't feel right..." Zuko whispered weakly. I looked over at him worriedly. He was feeling his head as if it hurt. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back into his head and he wavered, knocking over a pot as he collapsed onto the ground.

"Zuko!" Iroh cried rushing over to him. My eyes widened, and I too made my way to his side. I looked around the room. There was an extra blanket and pillow already packed in one of the boxes. I dug it out and prepared a space on the floor for Zuko and helped Iroh roll him onto it. Then, I fetched a rag and a bucket of water as Iroh placed his palm on Zuko's forehead.

"What's wrong with him?" My voice was riddled with genuine worry. Iroh didn't answer me. He continued to tend to Zuko, and I could do nothing but watch... _I hope he'll be alright..._

Tikaani's POV:

"Now _that_'s an impressive door!" Sokka observed as he climbed a tower of rubble that we had created after bashing into the side of the palace. "It's gotta go somewhere!" I climbed the tower of rubbish and looked at the _gigantic_ doors. Sokka ran towards them and leaped into the air, screaming, and he kicked the door with one of his feet. Nothing happened, aside from him collapsing onto the ground. Sokka frantically tried to push the door down, but to no avail. I snickered as Aang and Toph snuck up behind him. With a gust of air and a ripple of rocks, the doors-and Sokka-went flying across the room. "A little warning next time?"

He stood to his feet and the five of us continued into the room. A group of Dai Li hurried out of the shadows to stand guard to the Earth King. Long Feng was standing behind them, but in front of the Earth King. We all prepared to fight. Katara brandished a long whip of water, Sokka raised his machete, Toph held up a large boulder, and Aang wielded his staff. I stood there pleasantly, trying to look non-threatening. "We need to talk to you!" Aang announced.

"They're here to _overthrow_ you!" Long Feng growled, turning around to face the Earth King and gesturing to us with a swipe of his arm.

"No, we're on your side!" Sokka testified, still clutching his machete. "We're here to help."

"You have to trust us!" Katara pressed, not wavering on her impending water whip.

"You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, _break down my fancy door_, and you expect me to trust you?" The Earth King inquired in a mix between disbelief and anger.

"He has a good point." Toph realized.

"I wouldn't trust us if I were him." I piped up. They turned to see that I wasn't displaying any sort of weapon.

"If you're on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down." Earth King Kuei ordered. Everyone besides Toph and I exchanged a glance before dropping their weapons. Toph dropped her rock too.

"See? We're friends your earthiness!" Aang greeted, smiling almost as wide as Joo Dee, but not near as creepily. The Earth King didn't look convinced. Long Feng held up his hand in our direction and the Dai Li agents held our hands behind our backs with rocks. The dastardly mustached villain smirked.

"Detain the assailants." He ordered. The Dai Li glided swiftly forward across the rocky ground, and stood behind us to prevent us from trying to escape.

"But we dropped our weapons!" Sokka objected. "We're your allies!"

"Make sure the avatar and his friends _never see daylight again._" Long Feng snarled.

"The avatar?" Earth King Kuei took a sudden interest and the Dai Li didn't move to follow Long Feng's orders. "You're the avatar?" He pointed at Sokka in awe.

"Uh... No, him." Sokka looked in Aang's direction.

Aang earthbended the Dai Li's earth cuffs off and held his hands in the air for a few moments. "Over here!" He then returned the earth behind his back.

"What does it matter your highness?" Long Feng seethed. "They're enemies of the state."

"Perhaps you are right." King Kuei looked away, slightly disappointed. Just then, the king's pet bear, Basco walked up to Aang and started licking his face. I sighed. _When do we get out of these cuffs? They're horribly uncomfortable. _

"Though Basco seems to like him!" The Earth King smiled happily. "I'll hear what he has to say." _So all of a sudden, he trusts his bear's judgement over his most trusted advisor? _A sour look crossed Long Feng's face. _OMG, LONG FENG IS SO JELLY OF BASCO!_

"Well, sir," Aang stepped forward as he began to explain, "there's a war going on right now, for the past 100 years in fact. The Dai Li's kept it secret from you. It's a conspiracy to control the city, and to control you."

"A secret war?" In one moment, the king went from curious to skeptical. "That's crazy!"

"Completely." Long Feng muttered his agreements darkly.

"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you, so he stole our sky bison to blackmail us. And blackmail is the least of his crimes!" Aang continued his explications and accusations, but they were all too crazy for The Earth King to believe. "He brainwashed our friend!"

"All lies." Long Feng responded placidly. "I've never even seen a sky bison your majesty. Frankly, I thought they were extinct."

The Earth King sat down. "Your claim is difficult to believe. Even from an avatar." In response, Long Feng leaned over and began whispering something into the Earth King's ear. "I have to trust my advisor." King Kuei finally concluded. The Dai Li slowly began to take us away. We were in the process of walking away when we heard a loud scream from behind us. All of us turned around to see what was going on, even the Dai Li.

A small saber tooth moose lion cub had ripped a chunk out of the bottom of Long Feng's robes, and was now eating them. I looked down at my bag to see that Muu wasn't there. "Muu!" I realized that he must have snuck out upon entering the room. We had been so busy talking to the Earth King that no one had even noticed him, which was understandable, considering his small size and currently harmless appearance. Right after noticing Muu, I noticed that the part of the robe he'd bitten away had been the part concealing the Appa bite on Long Feng's leg. _And that _Long Feng _was the one who'd screamed like a girl after he saw Muu!_

"That proves he's lying!" Sokka suddenly shouted. "Long Feng says he's never seen a sky bison! Look at that mark!"

"Appa bit him!" Aang cheered jubilantly.

"That happens to be a very large birthmark!" Long Feng defended, trying to hide the mark by pulling it down, but the gap was very large and there was no way he could hide a mark that big. "Thanks to your stupid pet, everyone's seen it."

"Is that a baby saber tooth moose lion?" Kuei asked in wonder. He picked Muu up and started making baby faces at him. "Look how cute you are! Oh, yes you are!" He cooed in mock baby voices that people often used with their pets.

"Uh... Yeah. He's mine. His name's Muu." I answered. "But... Shouldn't we be more concerned with the conspiracy and the secret war that we were just talking about?" I wondered.

King Kuei seemed a bit sad to put Muu down. When he did, the little cutie scampered across the floor and back to my side. "Where were we?" He asked, looking around the room. He saw Appa's bite mark on Long Feng's leg. "Oh, yeah, that... I suppose there's no way to prove where those marks came from."

"Of course there is!" Sokka argued. "We can bring Appa in here!"

The Earth King was all for letting Appa into his throne room, considering that he seemed to have an affiliation for animals. After that, Aang had Appa open his mouth and we compared his teeth to the marks on Long Feng's leg. "Yup, that pretty much proves it." King Kuei agreed.

"YAY!" We all cheered excitedly as we raised our arms into the air victoriously.

"But it doesn't prove this crazy conspiracy theory." We wilted like flowers in the fall, when all the life started draining out of them. "Though... I suppose this matter is worth looking into." The king concluded.

"Well, it's better than nothing!" I pointed out optimistically.

Ryuu's POV:

Zuko moaned and turned over in his sleep. He seemed to be waking up a little.

"You're burning up. You have an intense fever." Iroh dipped a rag in the wooden bucket of fresh water that I had just fetched for him. He placed the rag onto Zuko's forehead. He was sweating like crazy and seemed extremely sick. "This will help cool you down." His eyes opened and he weakly looked from Iroh, to me, then back again.

"So thirsty..." Zuko muttered. He sat up. I reached for the bucket of fresh water and dipped a small tea cup into it before handing it to him. He dumped it sloppily into his mouth, then yanked the bucket away from me and drank from that, spilling water all over the floor in the process. He hurled the bucket across the room. After doing so, he laid back down and coughed feebly. Iroh covered him with the blanket. I felt helpless... _I wish I could do something more to help..._

Tikaani's POV:

"So this is what a train is like?" The king inquired. "I didn't realize it would be this... Public." I looked around at all the people on the train. Everyone was staring at the Earth King with wonder and awe in their eyes. _Well _that's _polite..._

"So... You've never been outside the upper ring before?" Katara questioned.

"I've never been outside my palace!" He answered joyfully. Movement outside the window caught his attention and he turned to see Aang and Appa flying in pace with the train. "Now that's the way to travel!" After the brief distraction, he turned back toward us. "So, may I ask where we're going?"

"Underneath Lake Laogai, your kingliness." Sokka replied. I nodded slowly.

"That's where the Dai Li built their secret headquarters." I explained. "That's where the Dai Li brainwashed people and conspired against you. They almost killed one of our friends down there." I looked out the window as we passed the inner wall. The train stopped at a station only a short ways away from Lake Laogai. I found myself staring at the island in the middle of the Lake, where the Freedom Fighters were hiding with Red. As we walked down the stone staircase that the king's guards created with their earthbending, I scanned the lake for ships. There were none to be seen. _Of course... As soon as the Earth King comes along, they return to their little hidey holes. _

And as if that wasn't bad enough, when Toph tried to bend out the tunnel to Lake Laogai, the only thing that came up was a bunch of rocks. "It's gone!" Toph cried.

"Oh, don't tell me-!" Sokka complained, hunching over in defeat. He popped back up like a daisy in a moment's notice. "That's okay, still got my positive attitude!" He gave a thumbs up and put on a fake smile.

"The Dai Li must have known we were coming and destroyed the evidence!" Katara tried to convince King Kuei, but he didn't seem like he believed us.

"Hm. That seems awfully convenient." The king mumbled. "Long Feng was right. This was a waste of my time. If you excuse me, I'm going back to the palace."

"No it wasn't!" I stood in front of him as he turned around, thus stopping him from leaving. "We can show you something by the outer wall of the city to prove that the war is real." I looked back at the others and they all seemed to know what I was talking about: the drill.

"No earth king has ever been to the outer wall. I don't have anymore time for this nonsense." The Earth King walked passed me, on his way back to the city.

"I'll let you ride on Appa this time!" Aang promised. King Kuei stopped and turned around, smiling as if this was the best day of his life. It probably was. But as soon as we lifted off the ground, he started screaming like a little girl.

"First time flying?" Toph guessed.

"It's both thrilling and terrifying." King Kuei responded, smiling.

"Yeah. I hate it too." Toph agreed as if that was actually what the king had said.

"I have to be honest with you." King Kuei looked into the distance. "Part of me hopes that what you're telling me about this war isn't true."

"I wish it wasn't." Aang conceded wistfully.

"You can say that again." I affirmed. I let my eyes scan the blue skies and the rolling plains and farmlands below us. For the first time in a couple days, I started thinking about Zuko. Right now he was probably having a deluge of creepy nightmares and coughing fits. For only a brief moment, I wished I could be with him right now, but then I remembered that Red still needed me, and our last encounter hadn't really worked out all that well. _Red's _so _lucky... I mean... aside from that whole thing with Long Feng. Her and Jet are going to work out perfectly fine. She has no competition. The only girl in the Freedom Fighters is Smellerbee, but she's got that whole thing with Longshot. Red's already captured Jet's heart, but I've got a long way to go to get to Zuko. Right now, I'm the _enemy_. Plus, I've got _Mai _to compete with. How the heck am I supposed to compete with a freaking emo ninja chick that throws deadly blades at people's heads?_

A flash of guilt went through me. _Why do I always think about Zuko? Shouldn't I be worried about Ryuu? He's my brother, but I think about an anime character more than I think about him. How messed up is _that? _I'm the _worst _sister _ever_._

"It's still there!" Aang called out, snapping me out of my thoughts. He pointed towards the giant drill at the base of the wall. Drill guts was still splattered all around it in a pool of disgusting sludge.

"What is that?" The Earth King gasped in shock as he gaped at the humongous drill. He seemed to be in a complete state of shock and bewilderment.

"It's a drill; a giant drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls." Sokka explained as we flew around to land on the wall. The king simply could not stop staring at it in flabberghasted horror. We stayed at the outer wall until close to sunset.

"I can't believe I never knew..." King Kuei sighed and closed his eyes as he put his head down. The sliding of rock suddenly caught our attention and we turned to see Long Feng emerge onto the wall, closely followed by two Dai Li agents.

"I can explain this, your majesty." He stated calmly. "This is nothing more than... A construction project." He motioned towards the sloppy mess of the drill.

"It looks more like a _de_struction project to me!" I retorted. Sokka started snort-laughing.

"And perhaps you could explain why it has a Fire Nation insignia on it?" Katara reprimanded. King Kuei glared at Long Feng.

"Why, it's imported, of course!" He continued his futile attempts at convincing the king. "You know you can't trust domestic machinery." Long Feng gave the Earth King a Joo Dee smile. The king continued glaring at him. "Surely you don't believe these children, instead of your most loyal attendant."

King Kuei looked in between us and Long Feng, as if he was suddenly unsure. Then, his gaze hardened on Long Feng. "Dai Li, arrest Long Feng!" He ordered. "I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom." Long Feng's mouth dropped open in shock. The Dai Li only hesitated for a second before arresting Long Feng... _But that second was a long enough time for them to exchange a glance..._ I narrowed my eyes at the two agents.

"You can't arrest me!" Long Feng howled as they dragged him away. "You all need me more than you know!"

"Looks like Long Feng is LONG GONE!" Sokka cried as the Dai Li hauled Long Feng away. He started laughing that super corny laugh of his. "Ha, yeah, I've been waitin' to use that one!" Everyone seemed to give him this weird look. I did too.

Red's POV:

"Mommy... Where are we going?" I asked the question again. Mommy was holding my hand and leading me through a crowd of strangers. Everyone was sad and dirty and hurt and they smelled funny, just like everyone always did. But not mommy. She was always happy and clean and painless and she smelled like baby wolfbat puppies. I'd never seen a wolfbat puppy, but they're probably super cute, just like adult wolfbats. I have a stuffed wolfbat named Walnut, but someday, I'm gonna have a real one.

"We're going somewhere safe. Okay, Shayla?"

"Where's safe, mommy?"

"Behind the walls of Ba Sing Se."

"What's a Ba Sing Se?"

She sighed. She looked tired. "It's going to be safe in Ba Sing Se... There won't be any more sad people. Doesn't that sound nice, Shayla?"

"Can I have a pet wolfbat there?" I pestered her. She would give me one if I did that.

"Shayla... Just sleep, alright."

"Promise me a wolfbat!"

"Okay, fine. You can have a pet wolfbat." She sighed again. "Now will you sleep?"

"Tell me when." I fought back a yawn. She couldn't know that I was tired. She sighed again again.

"When you close your eyes and go to sleep."

"So when I open them, I'll have a wolfbat?" I asked just to make sure. The yawn finally escaped.

"In your dreams, you can have anything." I looked up at the stars. Closing my eyes tight, I hugged the wolfbat stuffed animal and wished as hard as I could. _Wolfbat... Wolfbat... Wolfbat... Wolf... bat..._

Tikaani's POV:

I really wanted to get back to the grove of small trees to find Red and tell her that we were allowed back in the city. But first, we had to convince the Earth King to agree to support us on the Day of Black Sun. With Sokka's extremely potent persuasive powers, we managed to convince the Earth King to help us. "Very well." King Kuei finally agreed. "You have my support."

"RANDOM DANCING!" We all started celebrating and jamming out because we had finally done the thing that we came to Ba Sing Se to do in the first place.

"Your majesty." A voice interrupted our dance party and some guy in a cape walked up to the king. "I apologize for the interruption." He bowed before the king.

"This is General How." King Kuei introduced. "He's the leader of the council of five, my highest-ranking generals."

"We searched Long Feng's office. I think we found something that will interest everybody." General How explained. We all made our way to Long Feng's office, which was the really creepy library room with the green fire and all that creepiness scattered across the place like dust. "There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se. Including you kids." He carried a small wooden box and placed it on the table in front of the king.

"Secret files?" Aang echoed inquisitively.

"That's just creepy." I added.

"Toph Beifong." The Earth King read the name on the scroll in front of his face. He handed it to General How who handed it to Aang who handed it to Toph who handed it to Katara who opened it and read it for Toph.

"It's a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city." Katara continued reading the paper. "And she wants to see you!"

"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home?" She sneered in disgust and disbelief. "That's just sad."

"Aang." The king handed a scroll to Aang.

"This scroll was found attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it." General How explained.

"It's from the Eastern Air Temple!" Momo licked Aang's head as he continued to talk, which was for some reason the only thing I could concentrate on. _I wonder how it feels to have a lemur lick your bald head... Does it tickle? Better question: Can lemur saliva act as a natural wax to bald people's heads?_

"Is there a letter for me and Sokka, by any chance?" Katara looked at them hopefully.

"I'm afraid not." The king replied. Sokka and Katara looked at each other sadly. I felt bad for them. I wished I could see my father again...

"But there is an intelligence report that might interest you." General How handed Katara the scroll.

"A small fleet of water tribe ships."

"What?" Sokka raced over to her and peered over her shoulder. "That could be dad!"

"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay... Led by Hakoda, IT IS DAD!" Katara cried joyfully. Her and Sokka both basically went into a mega major freak out about how excited both of them were going to be to see their father. _I wonder if my dad's with them..._ I thought as I remembered that he was supposed to meet up with the Southern Water Tribe ships when he left the North Pole. _But I can't go. I have to stay to look after Red. My dad might not even be there, anyway..._

"I know you're both excited, but it's getting kind of late. We still need to go pick up Red and the Lost Boys before we can go to bed." I reminded.

Red's POV:

I still haven't seen one hair of that wolfbat she promised me. Not one single little hair.

And I remind her every. Single. Day. I'm almost eleven now! I help her take care of my one year old (half) brother, I help her around the house, I try to tolerate my mother's stupid new husband (He says he's my new daddy, but I say he's just another mess for me to clean up. Not when he's within hearing range, though.), but still, nothing! Seriously, what does it take to get a wolfbat around here?

"Shayla, your dad's coming home from work!" Mom called from the kitchen. I tried to ignore her. That never works. "SHAYLA!" She called again, a lot louder this time. I sighed. _So much for peace and quiet._

"_What_?" I growled. She put her hands on her hips.

"Don't give me that tone of voice! Your father's home."

"He's not my dad." I growled.

"You can at least act like it!"

"Tired of acting."

"UGH! You are so _difficult_!"

"And I'm not even a teenager yet! I feel _so_ bad for you." Sarcasm riddled my voice.

"Honey, I'm home!" A painstakingly annoying voice reverberated off the walls of the house. I was _never_ going to get sleep now. "Did you make the noodles? I'm starving!"

"Yes, dear, they're on the table."

I could hear him stuffing his face from my makeshift bed on the living room floor. I covered my head with my pillow. My little brother started crying wildly. The pillow didn't help.

_My life sucks._

_Families suck. _

_If I had a wolfbat, I'd feed my family to him for dinner. _

_And then, he'd be my family. _

Tikaani's POV:

The island on Lake Laogai came into view once again. Aang flicked Appa's reins and we descended, landing at the mouth of the forest. The sun had already set and the stars were out. They glittered off of the lakewater in a fascinating way that almost put me into a trance. I looked away and stared into the forest.

"It's dark in there." Sokka observed.

"You scared or something?" I teased even though I thought he was right. It was _way _too dark to see in there. Sokka narrowed his eyes at me.

"Ooo, darkness, so scary!" Toph joined in the mockery to make fun of Sokka. He pouted snootily at her.

"Are we going in there or not?" Katara butted in. The three of us nodded and we proceeded into the woods. I lead the way. The eerie silence sent chills up and down my spine. It was quiet. _Too quiet._

"Jet? Smellerbee? Longshot?" I called out. There was no response. Suddenly, something moved in the branches above and I looked up. A blood-curdling scream echoed through the forest as I stared into the beady black eyes of a giant wolf face. I fell to the ground and scrambled backward. "WALNUT!" I hollered as the others started laughing at me. Walt fluttered down to the ground. Red was resting on his back, but she was still unconscious. I stood to my feet and looked around the forest, but there was no sign of the Freedom Fighters.

"Do you think they're all right?" Aang worried as he tried to peer through the darkness.

"They're fine!" I snapped back. _They have to be!_

"Did you get the Earth King's approval?" I turned my head and saw Jet hanging upside down from a tree branch. Smellerbee and Longshot were doing the same a little farther back.

"Yeah." Toph answered.

"They've begun repairs on the house after Toph knocked down the wall." I chuckled. Jet swung off of the branch he was hanging from and landed on his feet. Smellerbee and Longshot did the same. Jet hopped on Walt's back with Red, and Smellerbee and Longshot climbed aboard Appa. Then, we flew back to the city.

Red's POV:

"They've broken through the wall." Mother muttered something to herself as she paced the living room floor. "I can't believe they've broken through the wall." I had no clue what she was talking about, but her murmuring was starting to drive _me_ up a wall. It was the middle of the night, how was I supposed to sleep with all that racket?

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. "Who's broken through what wall?"

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Before we came to the city, all the sad people." She was stammering and rambling and talking too fast for me to understand what on earth she was trying to say. "All the sad people. Before we came to the city. He was one of them. One of them who made people sad."

"Mom, you need to calm down!" I urged. "I can't understand a word you're saying!" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

"You're father."

"I told you, he's not-"

"No." She shook her head. "Your _real_ father. He was from the Fire Nation." For a second, visions flashed. Fire. Burning houses. People running. Children crying as they watched the fire spread, consuming their loved ones. Ear rings and a long braid. _Mongke._

"I already know that. You used to talk about him all the time. That ash-maker left you to go work for the Fire Lord." I didn't know why she was bringing him up now... My eyes widened as I realized what she'd been saying a moment before. "Through the wall. They've broken through the wall!"

"Voice down. Dai Li. No war in the city." Panic was starting to come back into her eyes.

"How did you get this information? How do you know?"

"I told a friend outside to keep me updated. She sends me letters about the war. They've broken the wall." My mother repeated in a whisper.

"This is dangerous. What if they find out?"

My mother shook her head. "They won't."

_But they did._

_And they took her away._

_Probably brainwashed her a little too well._

_Because when she came back, she didn't remember us. Sure she remembered _him_, my stepfather, who never wanted to have kids in the first place._

_But she didn't remember us._

Ryuu's POV:

"I you sure he'll be alright?" I fretted as I prepared a cup of tea and poured a cup for Iroh.

"This is not a natural sickness." Iroh informed placidly.

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

"When he decided to free the avatar's pets, it was in conflict with his image of himself." I nodded slowly, even though I had no idea what that meant. "Now he is at war within his own mind and body."

"So... Will he get better?"

"Yes." Iroh nodded. "But he will have to get better in his own time. When he comes out of this sickness, he will have become a better person. He will be a changed man."

Tikaani's POV:

"I can't believe it!" Aang exclaimed. "There's a man living in the Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru!"

"What's a guru?" Sokka questioned dumbfoundedly. "Some kind of poisonous blowfish?"

"No, a spiritual expert." Aang corrected. "He wants to help me take the next step in the avatar journey. He says he can teach me to control the avatar state!"

"And I can't _believe_ we know where our dad is now!" Katara exclaimed, clutching the scroll close to her.

"I know what you mean." Toph smiled. "My mom's in the city. And from her letter, it sounds like she _finally_ understands me!" I kind of looked away from the rest of them. They all had places where they wanted to be and people who wanted to see them. _Maybe now Katara _and _Sokka can go see their dad while I stay behind. I have to look after Red, anyway._

"This is all such big news! Where do we even start?" Sokka quizzed excitedly.

"I hate to say this, but I think we have to split up." Katara enunciated regretfully.

"Split up? We just found Appa and got the family back together!" Aang objected almost immediately. "Now you want us to separate?"

"It's not like we have a choice." I interjected, finally speaking up. "Red is still in no condition to travel long distances. She needs a series of strict follow-up healing sessions, which I can't give her if we're 100 feet in the air." As of now, Red was in the Earth King's personal medical wing, where only the highest-ranking officials went for help when they were sick. They didn't have any waterbending healers, but they did have highly trained masseuses who used hot rocks to get the body's chi paths flowing and to speed up the healing process. She still needed waterbending, but the hot rock method helped too. Jet hadn't left her side since I brought him back from the forest.

"Besides, you have to meet this guru." Katara persuaded. "If we're going to invade the Fire Nation, you need to be ready."

"Well... If I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I could drop you off at Chameleon Bay to see your dad!" Aang offered.

"I'm staying behind to take care of Red." I volunteered at once.

"Then someone else has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion." He stood to his feet, looking extremely disappointed. "I guess that's me."

"Why can't Tikaani just do it?" Toph questioned as she picked her toes. "She's already staying behind to take care of Red." Everyone nodded and seemed to agree to this, except for Sokka, who looked doubtful, and I, who couldn't read all that well.

"No offense to myself, but battle tactics aren't exactly my strong point." If Red woke up, this would be right up her alley, but something tells me that that won't happen for a couple days yet, maybe a week. We didn't really have that kind of time.

"Then you go to Chameleon Bay." Katara suggested forcefully. "I'll stay here with the king."

"You." Sokka started doing some odd version of the happy dance. "Are the." He couldn't contain his excitement. "Nicest." I really hoped he wouldn't explode or anything. "Sister. EVER!" He hugged Katara, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Easy there big brother." Katara pushed him away. "Though you're right. I am."

Red's POV:

_Our own mother doesn't even remember us anymore._ As soon as she came home I asked her what happened. She asked me who I was and what I was doing in her home. I told her that I was her daughter, but she didn't believe me. When my stepfather came home, he said he didn't know who I was either. He did the same thing to my one-year-old brother. _That_ was on purpose. _He hates children._

"Daruke..." I cooed as I stood over his carriage. He drowsily blinked open his eyes and looked up at me curiously. "Hey, sleepy."

"Mama?" He babbled. "Dada?"

I smiled weakly. "No, Shayla. Sister." I picked him up. He was heavier than when I'd last held him, soon after he'd been born.

"No!" He scolded as I carried him away from his crib. He started to cry, but I sang the lullaby that I always remembered hearing my mother sing to me when I was little...

_Red are treetops_

_Red is the sky_

_Fight for your freedom_

_And always try_

_Cause if you give up_

_Then you'll never fly_

_Orange leaves_

_Orange light_

_Let your dreams_

_Start to take flight_

_Go to sleep_

_And all will be right..._

He was sleeping again. "I'm sorry, Daruke... No more Mama and Dada." I whispered quietly as he slept, then I carried him out of the house. My mother was looking at me in a state of complete confusion. I could imagine what she was thinking. 'Why is there a complete stranger in my house with a baby?' I looked at my stepfather's look of triumph and no-more-kids-in-the-house. He was lucky that I was holding a baby. I would have punched him.

_Don't worry, Daruke. We'll find a new home._

_Away from Ba Sing Se._

Tikaani's POV:

"I'm really gonna miss you guys." Toph confessed.

"Me too." Katara agreed.

"Yeah..." Aang and Katara both hugged Toph.

"Agreed." I joined in on the group hug, but Sokka stayed away, isolated. The four of us ran over to him and hugged him.

He lifted his arms into the air. "Great! That's enough!" He lowered his arms a bit. "Okay, we love each other." He patted Aang and Katara on their heads. "Seriously."

Red's POV:

We traveled for weeks. I tried to do everything I could for Daruke. I fed him, clothed him, and bathed him like a mother would, but I _hated _it. I was _eleven_ years old. I didn't know how to raise a child! But still, somehow I managed to survive. I stole clothes, weapons, and food from whatever villages I stopped by, just trying to get by and keep us safe. I had to hand teach myself how to use a sword equally well in both my left and right hand at the same time that I watched my little brother to make sure he stayed out of trouble.

After almost a whole two years of traveling from town to town, village to village, on foot, while avoiding trouble and somehow managing to keep my brother _and _myself alive, I came to a safe haven. It was perfect. Miles of bright orange and red forest stretching for as far as the eye could see. The only problem was that someone had already staked a claim. A tribe of ruffians glided through the treetops, swiftly jumping from branch to branch.

So I settled for a series of intricate caves below the forest. A year later, I'd built my first forge and I considered the tunnels home. Not only that, but I'd tamed the leader of a pack of wild wolfbats, and I named him Walt.

"I want to go to the trees!" Daruke, now four, demanded, stomping his foot on the cave floor.

"Someone already lives there, Daruke... They could be dangerous." I replied. At the age of fourteen, I had become a master blacksmith. Right now, I was working on a new weapon. If those ruffians found out we were here, they might attack. I needed to be ready.

"I want the trees!" Daruke demanded again, stomping his feet as if he was getting ready to throw a tantrum.

"No trees, Daruke." I replied. "They're dangerous. But when I'm done here, I'll be dangerous too, and then we can go into the trees."

"I want the trees NOW!" Daruke wailed. I rolled my eyes. _Children are so difficult!_

"You know what I think? I think it's time for a nap!" I briefly turned away from my project. "Go to bed."

"No." He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Don't make me make you!" I snarled. He hesitated a bit. Then, he turned away and stormed down one of the tunnels, the one that would lead him to his bed. _Seriously, children are difficult. _

I turned back to the weapon. I was almost done...

Jet's POV:

I stared at Red, my eyes narrowed in concentration. She was still out could, and she showed no sign of waking up anytime soon. But she was going to be okay, and that was all that mattered. I heard the door open behind me. In one swift movement I whipped out my hook swords and whirled around to face the door simultaneously. I sighed in relief when I realized that it was just Smellerbee and Longshot.

"She doesn't show any signs of waking yet?" Smellerbee asked with concern.

"Not yet." I turned around to look at Red again. She was sleeping so peacefully...

"Longshot and I were talking..." I faced them once again, curious.

Longshot looked into my eyes, then looked off into the distance. I could read these body motions as clearly as if he were speaking into my mind. "Smellerbee and I will be returning to the Freedom Fighters in the morning." He looked down again, then looked back up, determinedly. "We've been away from home too long."

"Thanks for telling me." I replied. "But I'm going to stay here with Red."

"Are you sure, Jet?" Smellerbee pressed. "We thought you'd love to come back to the forest with us!"

"There are things that I love more than the forest." I looked back towards Red, knowing that what I said was true. I was going to be here when she woke up. "I was thinking about joining Aang on his journey."

"Really?" Smellerbee gasped in surprise.

"I have to protect Red. I can't lose her, not again." The pain that I'd felt in the forest on that day when I'd found her arm blades had been almost too much for me to bare. The pain that I'd felt underneath Lake Laogai when I thought she was going to die had felt even worse. _She was willing to lay down her life to protect me. Now I have to protect her. But it's more than just that. I _want _to protect her._

I felt Longshot's hand grasp my shoulder comfortingly. There was only one word in this gesture. "Goodbye."

Red's POV:

_It's quiet..._

_Too quiet._

"Daruke?" I called out his name, but he didn't answer. _What did that little troublemaker do _this _time? _I followed the tunnel to his 'room,' but he wasn't there. My eyes widened. _He just _had _to go to the trees, didn't he?_ I made for the nearest exit, which wasn't very near at all. _He must have snuck past me when I was working on this weapon!_ I looked down at the bands on my arms. I clicked a button on the side, and blades slid out. _If those ruffians did _anything _to him, I am going to make them wish they were never born!_

I looked up into the trees, peering out of the mouth of the large wolfbat cloak I was wearing. It was made from the pelt of a fairly young, but large wolfbat who'd gotten sick and died. Don't worry; I cleaned it before using it. I didn't see anything up in the trees. _Hiding. Cowards._ I spread my arms, revealing the wolfbat wing membranes between my arms and sides. I swiftly ran up the side of the tree. Luckily, the wind seemed to be in my favor today. It pushed on the membranes, making my parkour that much easier.

I finally emerged onto a wooden platform. I looked around cautiously, but I didn't see any of the ruffians that I'd seen before. The wooden platform I was standing on circled the tree in an upwards spiral, to some upper levels of the canopy. There was also a wooden bridge branching off to a tree house on a neighboring tree. I walked across this bridge and stopped at the door to the tree house to peer in. I gaped at what I saw before me. Food galore filled the entire room. A copious amount of lychee nuts, and other berries and fruits filled the room to the brim. I stepped into the room with my mouth watering, but before I could get anywhere near the food, I was yanked into the air. I screamed in shock.

_A snare!_ I looked up to see that my feet were tied tightly together with a rope. I was hanging upside down, surrounded by food that was too far away to reach.

"Heh! Sounds like we caught ourselves a thief!" I tried to turn my head to face the voice, but it was kind of hard to do so when I was hanging upside down. It sounded a lot younger than I thought. I heard footsteps and the kid walked around to stand in front of me. He had bushy brown hair and looked to be about only fourteen. He seemed surprised when he saw me. _Never seen someone wearing a wolfbat before?_ "What are you doing stealing our food?"

"Get me out of here, ruffians!" I growled.

"Aww, why don't you hang around for a while?" He asked in an almost flirtatious manner.

"Very funny, tree hugger." I snapped, crossing my arms. "I'm looking for my brother."

"You mean that kid we caught stealing our food earlier?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What did you do to him?" I demanded furiously. I swung my arm blades towards him, but he stepped out of my reach.

"He's fine. We threw him a feast." He didn't seem the least bit phased by the weapons that I was still swinging in his direction. I stopped and narrowed my eyes at him.

"You expect me to believe that?" I tried to sneer, but the blood was starting to rush to my head, making everything increasingly difficult. "Why on earth would you throw him a feast?"

"Because he's one of us now. He's a Freedom Fighter." The kid snickered. "Cut her loose." I tried to turn around to see who he was talking to, but before I could, an arrow soared through the air, severing the rope in half. I collapsed onto the ground, but quickly rose back to my feet, pointing my blades towards the boy threateningly.

Now that everything was right side up, I had a much better time making out his facial features. He had bushy brown hair, dark brown eyes, the strangest shaped eyebrows I'd ever seen, and he had a weed sticking out of his mouth. He wore ragtag armor that was mismatched and clashed with everything else. I turned my head to see that two kids wearing similar clothes were blocking the entrance. One of them was a boy with a straw hat, a red cape, and a bow and arrow, while the other was a girl with bushy dark brown hair and red paint on the sides of her face. I was surrounded.

"Freedom Fighters?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "What's that?"

"We're the Freedom Fighters. We fight the Fire Nation. They don't belong in the Earth Kingdom, and they don't belong in our forest." The boy smiled almost demonically. It was actually kind of cute. "The name's Jet. What's yours?" I opened my mouth to respond, but he said something to me before I could. "If you join the Freedom Fighters, you'll have a new life. A new name. Choose wisely."

_A new name?_ I let my thoughts run wild and free. _What kind of name would I choose? _I looked out of the window. A red leaf drifted by. _Red are the treetops…_ _Red are the sky… Red is_ me_._ "Red." I replied. "My name is Red."


	32. Chapter 31: Honor and Destiny

_**Part One:**_

Ryuu's POV:

"I can't believe I get my own room!" I cooed as I opened the door and walked into the kitchen. We'd finally finished moving all of our stuff from the old apartment in the lower ring to the new apartment in the upper ring, right above our teashop. I took a deep breath in through my nose. Iroh was cooking something for breakfast. I was about to ask Iroh what it was, but Zuko beat me to it.

"What's that smell?" Zuko walked towards where Iroh was cooking.

"It's jook. I'm sure you wouldn't like it." Iroh said.

Zuko leaned over the pot and took a big whiff. "Actually, it smells delicious. I'd love a bowl, uncle." He took a bowl off the counter and held it forward. Iroh narrowed his eyes at Zuko skeptically.

"Who are you and what have you done with Zuko?" I demanded, raising an eyebrow at him. Zuko laughed heartily. Iroh and I exchanged a glance.

"Now that your fever is gone, you seem different somehow." Iroh scooped out a ladleful of jook and poured it into Zuko's bowl. I walked over and picked up a bowl to, waiting in line behind Zuko.

"It's a new day!" Zuko announced. He walked towards the small dinner table. "We've got a new apartment, new furniture, and today's the grand opening of your new tea shop." Zuko sat down and took a sip from the bowl. I thanked Iroh as he filled mine and I walked over to the table to sit down too. "Things are looking up uncle." Iroh smiled.

"I like this new Zuko." I piped up. "From here on out, life is going to be great!" I lifted my bowl to my lips as well. It tasted just as good as everything Iroh cooked-downright delicious!

Tikaani's POV:

I waved my hands over Red's body once again. She was soaking in a pool of water, and as I moved my hands, ripples of glowing light spread through the pool of water. I closed my eyes and sensed the chi paths within her body. I let the water wash over them slowly, so I could examine her insides once again. After days upon days of healing sessions, her ribs had almost completely healed, her breathing had returned to normal, and the damaged tissue on her insides had almost completely finished healing itself. Now, it was just a matter of time before Red woke up, and-

"Would you please stop staring at me?" I suddenly stopped studying Red and turned around to glare at Jet. He'd been sitting on a stool for the past who knows how long, just watching me work on Red as if he had nothing better to do. "I can't concentrate when I can _feel_ you looking at me!"

"Is she going to be alright?" He asked as if he hadn't even heard what I'd just said to him. I seriously felt like just ripping my hair out.

"For the thousandth time, she'll be _fine_." I rolled my eyes and faced Red again, but I still felt like Jet was staring. I turned, and he was. "For Pete's f***ing sake, can you _please_-"

"Tikaani?" I whirled back towards Red to see that she'd opened her eyes. She looked around the room in confusion. "Where am I?"

"You're in the-" Before I could even get the words out of my mouth, Jet pushed me out of the way so he could talk to Red himself.

"Red, are you alright? Does anything hurt? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Jet questioned frantically. So much worrying coming from him was highly uncharacteristic of him. Red looked a little bit overwhelmed by his sudden outburst. She blinked a couple times before responding.

"Yes, I'd like a watermelon, a bucket full of lychee nuts, and maybe half of a cantaloupe, alright?" Jet was about to leave the room, but Red stopped him. "Wait, I also want three apples, five papayas, some guava, ooo, and a meilorun fruit! And maybe some coffee." Jet nodded and raced out of the room again, only to return a few seconds later.

"What's coffee?" Red sniggered at this.

"Forget it, just get me some Jasmine tea." With that, Jet finally left the room.

"Wow. You're really hungry." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but the real reason I sent him to get all that fruit is because I could tell he was annoying you." Red smirked. "Seriously, irritation is radiating off of you in waves."

"He's been watching you ever since you conked out." I replied, rolling my eyes. "It's been getting on my nerves."

"Oh, wow, that's creepy..." Red lifted her head a little bit, but laid back down again after a look of pain crossed her face. "I guess this is some sort of hospital, right?"

"The King's personal infirmary, yeah." I answered. She nodded slowly.

"Well, how proper. I should have brought some krumpets." Red said it in a mock English accent. I laughed. "So, what all happened since I've been out?"

"The earth king approved of our battle plan. The group split up. Sokka went to see his father, Aang went to see the guru, Toph's probably been captured by Xing Fu and that other guy, and Katara's helping General How prepare for the invasion. Also, the fake Kyoshi Warriors are here, but no one's seen them yet." I explained. "So I guess that means Katara and I will be going to the Jasmine Dragon soon for some tea. Then, when she sees Zuko, Ryuu and Iroh, she'll freak out and come back to tell the Earth King, but then she'll see Azula, and get herself captured. I'll probably go with her for all of that. Because, y'know, Zuko..."

"What about me?" Red slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing and clutching her chest as she did so.

"Lay back down!" I ordered. She didn't listen to me.

"No... I don't want you to leave Ba Sing Se without me." Red flinched from the pain as she tried to push herself to her feet, but I stood in her way.

"Red, that's insane! Of course we won't leave Ba Sing Se without you!" I cried. "You have Walt. Before Azula starts the coup, you and Jet can escape on him. You should go to chameleon bay to meet up with the Water Tribe, then rejoin with the Gaang later. It's too dangerous for you to be here during that time, with your current condition."

"Okay..." She muttered weakly. She looked extremely angered at the fact that she would be completely helpless for a while, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop it. She regretfully laid back into the water and let me continue my healing sessions.

Ryuu's POV:

"Who thought when we came to the city as refugees that I'd end up owning my own tea shop?" Iroh asked as we watched people hustle and bustle around us. The place was surprisingly crowded for our first day open. I was so excited to see this place up and running and filled with so many people... "Follow your passions, Zuko and Ryuu, and life will reward you."

"Congratulations, uncle!" Zuko smiled widely.

"I think that I'd be happy just working _here_ for the rest of my life." I smiled too.

"I am very thankful." Iroh looked at the both of us happily.

"You deserve it! The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city!" Zuko complimented.

"Forget that, this is the best tea shop in the world!" I corrected.

"No. I'm thankful because you two decided to share this special day with me." Iroh put his hands on both of our backs. "It means more than you know." With that, we all hugged one another. I fought off the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes. _I _do _have a family. Iroh and Zuko are my family_.

Zuko pulled away. "Now let's make these people some tea!"

"Yes!" Iroh cried happily. "Let's make some tea!"

"I'll serve the tables for the first half of the day, but I want a turn behind the tea pot too!" I called after them as I set to work, taking people's orders and delivering the tea.

Tikaain's POV:

Red was sleeping again when Jet came back with the fruit. In about three hours, he managed to find everything on Red's list and he even brought back a little more. He even had to buy a wagon off of some kid on the streets to get the fruit to her. Now, he was sitting in the corner watching me again.

I turned my head as the door opened. Katara came into the room carrying a scroll in her hands. Momo was riding on her shoulder. "Hey, Katara."

"How's Red?" She wondered in concern.

"A lot better, thanks for asking. So what brings you here?" I questioned.

"Well I was thinking about stopping by the new tea shop that just opened before I took these battle plans to the Earth King." Katara announced. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with."

"Sure." I looked at Jet. "Can you watch Red until I come back?" I asked, knowing very well that I wouldn't be coming back. Jet stood to his feet and took out his hook swords. I took that as a yes, then followed Katara as she led the way to the tea shop. It was an extremely nice-looking facility. The roof was an orange-ish brown color, while the walls were a jade-green color. Two golden dragons framed the sign above the open doorway. With great satisfaction, I realized that I knew what it said without having to look in my book. _Though that might be because I already know from the episodes that his shop is called the Jasmine Dragon, LOL._

"Table for three please." Katara said to the waiters that greeted us as we walked through the door. I found it humorous that she'd counted Momo as a person too. Neither of them were Zuko or Ryuu...

"Uncle, I need two jasmine, one green, and one lychee!" Zuko called out across the restaurant. Katara's eyes widened and she stared in shock and horror at Iroh and Zuko. Then, Ryuu emerged from the back room with two trays, one balanced on each hand.

"Orders for table five and seven!" He cheered across the shop as he waltzed over to one of the tables and placed the tray in front of the man who had been sitting there.

I turned back towards Katara. She backed up slowly before turning around and running away. I ran after her. After we had left the tea shop behind us, I decided to speak.

"Katara, wait!" I called after her. She turned around, fear shining in her eyes. She had expected me to be falling behind or to see Zuko chasing us. Instead, I walked slowly up to her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go tell the Earth King that firebenders are in the city!" She answered snappily. "Don't you think he needs to know about this?"

"Why?" Katara looked at me like I was crazy. I took a deep breath to continue. "It's not like they were doing any harm. They opened a tea shop! We should report such tyranny to the Earth King immediately!" I cried sarcastically.

At first, Katara seemed just plain shocked, but soon, her shock turned to anger. "I don't believe this! YOU'RE ACTUALLY STICKING UP FOR THEM?" Rage burned in her eyes like an unstoppable fire. "After everything they did to us, you're sticking up for them? They tried to kill Aang! They tried to destroy the world's last chance for peace! How can you go against your friends and stick up for them like this?"

"Because I went to their tea shop in the lower ring every day before they moved up here!" I confessed. "I went before any of you woke up... And every day I saw them there, they seemed so happy. They were living a normal life like normal people."

"You mean you knew they were here? AND YOU NEVER TOLD ANYONE?" Her mouth dropped open in terror. "Who's side are you on?"

"I'm on your side!" I told her urgently. She was backing away from me slowly and I knew she didn't believe me. "But Zuko's changed, I swear! They're different people now, Katara!"

"No... You..." Katara gaped at me. "You like Zuko!"

"No I don't!" I lied, but Katara already looked even more mortified than she had before. She slowly backed away, then turned and started running again. "Katara, wait!" I took after her, but she didn't slow down. The entire way to the palace, I had to chase her in a full-on sprint. Needless to say, by the time we got there, both of us were completely exhausted. In her haste to tell the Earth King, Katara momentarily forgot that she was mad at me.

We raced into the palace room, where three girls in Kyoshi warrior outfits were sitting in front of the throne. I knew that they weren't Kyoshi warriors, but Katara didn't. "Thank goodness you're here, Suki!" Katara panted. "Something terrible is going on!" I followed Katara into the throne room and stopped, out of breath, beside her. "The Fire Nation has infiltrated the city, I just saw Prince Zuko, his uncle, and Ryuu! We have to tell the-"

"WAIT!" I interrupted Katara and strode forward, peering into the shadows. "You... You're not Suki!" She stood up and stepped into the sunlight, snickering. Katara gasped. We both uncapped our waterbending pouches, but it was too late. Ty Lee leaped through the air and jabbed us at a series of points on our body. Katara and I immediately collapsed onto the ground, our bending water spilling out around us.

The three 'Kyoshi Warriors' walked up to us. "So... Zuzu's in the city too. I think it's time for a family reunion."

Red's POV:

My eyes shot open and I sat straight up, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Remnants of my nightmare came back to me. _Tikaani was screaming for help._

"Red!" Jet was by my bedside in an instant. "What's wrong?"

"We have to get out of the city now!" I ordered. _Azula must have captured her by now._

"Why? What is it?" Jet urged.

"A nightmare." I gave a crisp whistle. A series of surprised screams came from the hallway, and a moment later, Walt rushed into the room.

"A nightmare? Why do we have to leave the city if it was just a nightmare?"

"Because I have a feeling that this nightmare... Is about to come true." Pain stabbed my stomach and chest as I stood to my feet, but I ignored it and clambered onto Walt's back. Jet came on after me. "Let's get out of here!" I cried. Walt let out a loud howl before dashing off.

"Where are we going?" Jet demanded as we flew off. I hesitated before answering.

_The Water Tribe is gathering by Chameleon Bay, but they're about to leave for a mission to stop a fleet of Fire Nation ships. Plus, if I leave now, I'll probably end up passing Aang and Sokka, which would raise a lot of questions. That, and I don't even know the way. _I wracked my brains. _Sure, we could hide out in the wilderness for a day or two and _then _go to Chameleon Bay... Yeah, I think I'll go with that!_

"We're going to Chameleon Bay." With that, we left the hospital and flew off into the night.

Ryuu's POV:

Zuko and I busily swept the rug with the beautiful golden dragons on it. The shop had just closed for the night, and we had had a busy day!

"A message from the royal palace!" A messenger hurried up to Iroh and handed him a scroll. I directed my attention to Iroh. _The Royal Palace? A message from the Royal Palace? That sounds like a big deal! _

"I... I can't believe it!" Iroh suddenly cried. Zuko turned his head to look now, too.

"What is it uncle?" Zuko asked as the two of us walked over to Iroh.

"Great news!" I really liked that rush of excitement in his eyes. "We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!"

"What?" My mouth dropped open in shock. _The Earth King?_ "We're going to meet the Earth King? That's such an honor!"

"I wonder what kind of tea I shall serve him?" Iroh asked to himself as he hurried off excitedly.

"Isn't this great, Zuko?" I asked excitedly. He smiled.

"It sure is!"

_**Part Two: **_

Ryuu's POV:

"Many times I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace." Iroh told us as the carriage dropped us off out front. We slowly began our trek to the palace. "But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror. Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea." Iroh smiled. "Destiny is a funny thing."

"It sure is, uncle." Zuko agreed.

"I still can't believe we're going to meet the Earth King?" I exclaimed. "How cool is that?" As soon as we stepped foot in the palace, a palace attendant who called herself Joo Dee stepped forward to show us to the room where we would be serving tea. When we got there, there was already a nice table set up. Iroh poured four cups and placed them around the table. No one had to instruct us not to drink yet, that was pretty self-explanatory. We were sitting there in silence for about ten minutes before Zuko spoke up.

"What's taking so long?" He snapped impatiently.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept?" Iroh suggested.

I peered around the room. Something didn't feel right. "I don't know..." As if to confirm my doubts, a stream of Dai Li agents walked slowly into the room, surrounding us in a circle.

"Something's not right." Zuko finished the thought for me.

"It's tea time." My eyes widened as the familiar voice echoed throughout the room. A girl with earthbender clothes and firebender eyes Walked into the room and stood before us. _No... _I looked around frantically, suddenly realizing this for what it was. _This is just a trap!_

"Azula!" Zuko hissed bitterly as he stood to his feet.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" She questioned casually, as if this were just a normal conversation. "They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so firebender. I just _love_ it." I clenched my hands into fists. Pure rage coursed through my body. _That lying, cheating little snake!_

"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West?'" Iroh questioned. He picked up a steaming hot cup of tea, but didn't drink from it yet.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, uncle." She examined her fingernails, uninterested.

"It's more of a demonstration, really." Iroh corrected, smiling as he took a sip from his steaming hot cup of tea. Zuko and I exchanged a glance and we snickered. In an instant, both of us ducked behind Iroh. He opened his mouth and a towering wall of flames shot out. He turned in a circle, breathing fire at the surrounding Dai Li agents. They all ducked and hid for cover. Iroh kept up the wall of flames while Zuko and I blasted a hole in the wall. The three of us made a break for it, Dai Li agents hot on our heels.

We raced around a corner just as they started firing their rocky gloves at us. Even in the heat of the moment, Iroh was able to blast a hole in the palace wall. He leaped out and destroyed a hedge. I was about to jump after him, but hesitated. I turned and looked at Zuko. He looked at me too. My thoughts swirled like a whirlpool in my head. _You have to jump! Get away from Azula! _I looked back. _She... She..._

"Come on! You'll be fine!" Iroh called out to both Zuko and I.

"No! I'm tired of running!" Zuko growled. "It's time I faced Azula!" He turned around and walked down the hallway. I looked back at Iroh, then to where Zuko was facing Azula farther down the hallway. I hesitated to make a decision. _SHE KILLED MY MOTHER!_ Lightning flashed in my vision, and I saw my mother falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Iroh." I whispered before turning around to follow Zuko and face Azula.

"You're so dramatic." I heard her saying to him. "What? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?"

"Yes!" Zuko snarled. _What is he crazy?_ "I challenge you!"

"No thanks." She shrugged it off. Zuko worked up a raging ball of fire and hurled it in Azula's direction. Two Dai Li agents immediately blocked it from reaching her by lifting up a defensive layer of earth. They then aimed their rock gloves for Zuko's feet, but I flipped over him and blasted both of the rocks with powerful bursts of fire and they shattered.

"YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!" I waved my arm and sent an arc of flames in her direction. Two more Dai Li agents stepped forward and blocked it. The four Dai Li agents trapped us against the ground with their rock gloves. I tried to struggle free, but they were too strong. Azula turned to walk away. "GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" I screeched. But she kept walking away and two more Dai Li agents shot their rock gloves forward. _NO!_

Tikaani's POV:

I paced back and forth within the rocky confines of my crystallized prison. It wasn't completely crystallized. I was surrounded by grayish blue rock. Glowing green crystals stuck out of the walls, floor, and ceiling. I was the only person here, much to my annoyance. They had put Katara into another cell because they didn't want us conspiring to try to escape. That meant that Zuko and Ryuu would get split up too. Which also meant that I could end up with Zuko or Ryuu. I prefered Zuko. Ryuu didn't know I was his sister, and knowing him, he'd try to flirt with me. Also, the idea of Katara alone with Zuko didn't exactly appeal to me.

The rocky boulder scraped as the Dai Li peeled it away from the opening to my prison. I looked up to see Zuko tumbling down the tunnel to land on the ground in front of me. _Oh, thank goodness!_

"Zuko!" I tried not to sound extremely happy, that might creep him out. My voice changed to curiosity and worry as I continued. "What are you doing down here?"

"What does it look like?" He pushed himself into a sitting position with his back facing me. I could tell that he was looking down, staring at the ground.

"Well..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say. He seemed so much colder than he'd been the last time we'd met. Beneath the fountain, he'd wanted to say something to me, but he couldn't. Now, he seemed like he didn't want to talk at all. "It looks like you're staring at the ground, hating the world, but... I know you're trying to think things through. You look and act tough on the outside... But on the inside, you're just confused. You're hurting. You don't know right from wrong right now, but soon you'll-"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" He interjected fiercely. "Just shut up already!"

"I don't know what I'm talking about, huh?" I looked at the ground. Flashbacks of my life in the Fire Nation hit me. Going to school and pretending that I was a nonbender. Every moment of every day, I was always so unsure of everything. I knew that what they were doing was wrong, but I couldn't speak out against the Fire Nation. My whole life I'd struggled trying to find out if I should obey the rules and hide my waterbending, or if I should defy the Fire Nation and reveal my secret. "I know what it's like to be confused, Zuko. I've had loyalties in more than one place, and I've had to decide my own destiny before. I know what you're going through."

"What are you talking about?"

"I might be a waterbender, and my father might be a warrior from the Northern Water Tribe, but..." I trailed off, only to build suspense. "My mother was a firebender."

"Your mother..." Zuko's eyes widened in shock. "You're mother was from the Fire Nation?"

"Yes. For my whole life, I've struggled with my loyalties. I've been confused as to what I should do." I stared into the distance and let the flashbacks pour in. "I've always been struggling over which side to take. When I finally made my decision, I did what was right. I betrayed the Fire Nation. But... When they discovered my waterbending, and my mother's treachery..." My vision flashed with images of blue lightning. My mother's limp body collapsed to the ground, motionless. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." Tears stung at my eyes. I grimaced and turned away as I let them fall freely.

"I'm sorry... That's something we have in common."

Ryuu's POV:

"Ow, ow, ow!" I wailed as I skidded down the rocky tunnel and face-planted on the ground in front of that pretty Water Tribe girl... _Katara, was it?_

"Why did they throw you in here?" She hissed viciously. I weakly pushed myself to my feet and opened my mouth to respond, but she interrupted me. "Oh wait, let me guess, it's a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches."

"Actually, I was never really all that interested in capturing Aang." I replied honestly. "I kind of just did whatever Zuko told me to do."

"Yeah right! And speaking of Zuko, he's probably hiding around here, just waiting to jump out and attack me!" She predicted incorrectly. I frowned.

"I have no idea where Zuko is..." I looked away sadly before adding something in a whisper. "But I hope he's okay..."

"You actually expect me to believe you? You're a horrible person!" She shouted in frustration. "Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace!" I could hear her pacing behind me. She seriously wasn't listening to a word I was saying, was she? "But what do you care? You're from the Fire Nation. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."

"That's way over the line!" I finally snapped at her. "You don't know what you're talking about! I'm not..." I trailed off. _Should I tell her the truth? I've never even told Iroh and Zuko... I should have... But I didn't know it when I met them..._

"Not what?" She demanded. I flinched away as she glared at me with hatred glittering like daggers in her eyes. "Not from the Fire Nation? So I suppose I've been imagining that you're a firebender?" I opened my mouth to respond, but she kept raging on. "And how dare you say that you don't know what I'm talking about! You have no idea what this war has put me through! Me, personally!" She suddenly fell to her knees on the cold ground in front of her. I could hear the sadness and tears in her words as she continued. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me."

"I'm sorry. I know what that feels like." I confessed. I fought the tears threatening to fall from my own eyes as well. _Don't cry in front of girls!_ I scolded myself. Katara turned her head to look at me.

"What... What do you mean?"

"It's... Kind of a long story, and I don't really remember it, but... Here goes." I recollected all of the flashbacks that I'd had in recent months. "My father was a waterbender and my mother was a firebender. I don't know much about how they met, but eventually, the chief found out. He banished my mother, my sister, and I from the North Pole. We lived in the Fire Nation for a long time... But... When the Fire Lord found out, he had Azula kill her. She tried to kill my sister and I, but we got away. Not without a scar, though." I indicated to the flame-shaped mark around my forehead. "I lost all of my memory... It's only just starting to come back to me..."

"I'm sorry... I didn't know..." Katara looked at the ground for a few seconds before looking up at me.

"That's alright. There's no way you could have known." I answered back.

She shook her head slowly. "No, but I _should_ have known." She replied. I looked at her, confused by those words. _What is she talking about? There's no way she could know._ "Tikaani is your sister, isn't she?"

"I... Yes, I think so... But... Maybe... I'm not sure. The visions were a little unclear. Maybe it was her, maybe it wasn't... I think so, but..." I realized that the visions _had_ been a little unclear. The facial features were a little blurry, but I'd assumed from the voice that it was Tikaani. Now that I was saying it aloud, I was a little less sure.

"I can help you remember." She announced. My eyes widened.

"How?" I quizzed eagerly. _What I wouldn't give to just remember _everything_,_

"I have healing abilities." She announced, pulling out her waterbending pouch. "I lost most of my water when Azula attacked me, but maybe..." She uncapped the water pouch on her side and pulled out a small amount of water.

"Healing abilities? How is that supposed to bring my memories back?" I questioned curiously.

"Like this." She stood behind me and placed the water droplets to my ears. A chill went up my spine and I closed my eyes. Suddenly, visions flashed before me in full detail. I remembered sitting at my computer and slicing zombies when my sister came into the room. After watching Sozin's Comet for about the 500th time, we went outside to wish upon the night sky to go to the Avatarverse. The storm clouds rolled in. In a flash of lightning, water poured down, fire circled us, wind howled, and earth shook. My eyes shot open.

_Holy mother f***ing s***. _

_I'm stuck in a mother f***ing TV show._

"Do you remember now?" She asked, walking around to face me. I nodded.

"When Aang comes to rescue you, Azula is going to try to kill him." I blurted.

Katara's eyes widened. She backed away. "So this is a trap? You-"

"No, I had nothing to do with it!" I objected. "I promise! Azula killed my mother. I would never listen to anything she has to say. But I have a feeling that as soon as we get out of here, she's going to try to convince me to join her." I was so glad that my sister had forced me to watch all of these episodes multiple times. They were practically engraved into my memory by now. How I survived this long without my memory, I had no clue.

"You're not going to, are you?" Katara pressed.

I took a deep breath. "Yes. I'm going to do it. I'm going with her."

Her eyes widened and she backed away from me. "Ryuu, how could you?"

"You didn't let me finish. I'm going with her, but I'll still be on your side." I didn't know how I managed to crack out a plan like this when it was so last-second. "I'm going to send you inside information on the Fire Nation."

"That's too dangerous! I can't let you!"

"But I have to! How else is the invasion going to succeed? It's not like you have a map of the palace or something." _I am such a genius._ "So what do you say?"

"I say that you're the bravest person I've ever met." Before I could react, she kissed me full on the lips. At first, I was just plain surprised, but then I closed my eyes and let my feelings consume me. _I'm kissing someone who's so fake, but this feels so real. Kissing an anime character, that's not weird at all. She's a good kisser too. Okay. This is really weird, but I don't want to stop because it's also really good at the same time. What is wrong with me?_

A loud crash saved me from having to pull away. Both of us leaped aside. The dust and smoke cleared to reveal Iroh and Aang.

"Aang!" Katara cried. She ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. _Really? You kiss me, then you go and hug another guy right in front of me? That's just cold!_ Iroh ran over to me and hugged me too. "Aang, I knew you would come.

Aang and Katara quickly pulled away. "We have to find Zuko and Tikaani." Aang announced.

Tikaani's POV:

"I'm sorry... I didn't know." I replied as Zuko finished telling me the story of his mother. "Maybe someday... When all of this is over... You could find her. I could help, if you wanted me to."

"You still don't make any sense. Why would you help me after everything I've done to you and your friends?" He inquired with genuine confusion ringing in his voice.

"Because whenever I see your face, I don't see the face of an enemy. I see the face of someone who's been hurt, someone who's confused. My friends wouldn't understand. When they picture the enemy, they picture your face." I explained, not entirely sure if that made any sense at all. I hoped it did.

"My face... I see." Zuko reached up to his face and touched his scar.

"I didn't mean it that way." I protested. "It's not because-"

"No, it's okay." Zuko interrupted warmly. "I used to think that this scar marked me, the mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the avatar forever. But lately I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"Maybe you could be free of it." I offered hopefully.

"What?" His eye widened and he looked in my direction.

"I have healing abilities." I announced.

"It's a scar. It can't be healed." Zuko hissed.

"You never know. Maybe, if I just tried, you could be free of it." I walked closer to him. "I don't know if it would work, but..." He closed his eyes. I reached up and touched his scar. The rough, dry skin felt a lot different from the burn marks that Zuko had left on my arms. In my opinion, he was beautiful, even with his scar. I leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Adrenaline roared through my body. My heart pounded in my ears like the beating of a drum. I felt more alive than I ever did before in my life. Except for maybe that other time that I kissed Zuko on our date by the Firelight Fountain. That night had been pretty alive too.

A loud crash resonated through the area and I jumped backwards, away from Zuko. I whirled around to see a huge dust cloud billowing into the air. _Thank God they didn't see any of that..._ The dust cleared to reveal Iroh, Aang, Katara, and Ryuu, who looked suddenly a lot more... aware, I guess, than he did before.

"Tikaani, are you okay?" Aang asked. He didn't hug me, though, which was good, because I didn't really want to hug him right then. I just nodded.

"Uncle, Ryuu, I don't understand. What are you doing with the avatar?" Zuko demanded furiously.

"Saving you, that's what!" Aang retorted. Zuko grunted in anger and tried to run forward, but Iroh and Ryuu held him back.

"Zuko. It's time we talked." Iroh told him. "Go help your other friends! We'll catch up with you." Iroh announced. Aang took off down the tunnel. Katara followed a little bit slower, looking back at Ryuu. I hesitated before following, much slower. I turned my head to look at Zuko as I walked away, but he didn't look at me. _Please, Zuko... Why don't you come with us instead of going with Azula?_

Ryuu's POV:

"Why, uncle? Ryuu?" Zuko asked weakly.

"You are not the man you used to be, Zuko." Iroh answered peaceably. "You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been." I decided to let Iroh do the talking. "And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Zuko closed his eyes as if thinking. I looked away. _If I say anything, Azula won't give me the chance to switch sides._

Before Zuko could make a decision, green crystals erupted from the ground, encasing Iroh, but not me, in thick green crystals. The Azula music key played in my head as the Fire Nation princess emerged into the chamber, followed closely by Dai Li agents.

"I expected this kind of treachery from uncle, but Zuko... Prince Zuko. You're a lot of things. But you're not a traitor." Azula raised an eyebrow at Zuko. "Are you?" She didn't wait for Zuko's answer, but instead turned to me. "And you... You're mother and father were traitors to both of their respective nations." I could feel both Iroh and Zuko looking at me in shocked confusion. "But that doesn't mean you have to follow in their footsteps."

"Release him immediately!" Zuko ordered bitterly, looking back at Iroh.

"What he said!" I agreed, deciding that it was safe to speak.

"It's not too late for either of you." Azula urged. "Zuko, you can still redeem yourself. And Ryuu, you can reverse your parents' mistakes."

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you! Ryuu, you do not know that your parents' choices were mistakes!" Iroh tried desperately to convince us onto his side. _I'm so, so sorry, Iroh... Choosing Azula's side is going to hurt him... A lot._

"Why don't you let them decide, uncle?" Azula seethed. "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day. This glorious day in Fire Nation history. And the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have father's love. You will have everything you want." Azula's gaze then turned to me. "And you will no longer be considered a traitor to your country."

"Zuko, Ryuu... I'm begging you... Look into your hearts and see what it is that you truly want." Iroh tried to convince us.

"You are free to choose." She motioned for the Dai Li to go, and they did. She then walked down the tunnel that Aang, Tikaani, and Katara had walked down. After a few moments of silence, Zuko followed her without saying a word.

"Ryuu?" Iroh tried to catch my attention. I looked up at him. "This is not like you. I know you are not considering Azula's offer."

"You're right." I smiled. "But I'm going to gain her trust and go with her and Zuko to the Fire Nation." I took a deep breath and looked around to make sure that there were no Dai Li agents hiding in the shadows or on the ceiling. It was all clear. "And I'm going to send Aang and Katara secret information on the Fire Nation."

Iroh didn't seem the least bit surprised. "As I expected. Just... Be careful." He cautioned. I nodded, and with that, I went through the tunnel after Zuko and Azula.

Tikaani's POV:

"We've gotta find Sokka, Toph, and Red!" Katara cried as we ran through the crystal catacombs.

"Actually, Red told me she was going to leave the city with Walt and Jet!" I told her as we kept running. She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of fire hurtling toward us kind of interrupted our conversation. Aang whirled around and blocked it with a giant wall of earth. The blue flames pounded against it, blowing us back a little bit. All three of us turned our heads to see Azula standing at the end of the cavern. Katara ran towards her, bending a large wave of water out of the underground river. I followed her, pulling water out of the river and forming icicle spears to hurl at her.

Katara blasted the humongous wave towards Azula, and I mixed in my icicles to give us a bit of an edge. At the last second, Azula blasted a shield of blue fire all around her, which sent up a cloud of brown smoke when it collided with Katara's giant wave. Aang, Katara, and I looked around, waiting for her to jump out. She shot out of the side and quickly moved her fists to hurl three fireballs at us. We simultaneously created a shield of water, easily extinguishing her blue flames. She landed on a large piece of rock hanging from the ceiling. The rock crumbled beneath her when Aang clenched his fist and she leaped down to land swiftly in between the three of us. Katara stood a little to her left, Aang stood a little to her right, and I stood in between Katara and Aang.

A blast of orange fire came out of seemingly nowhere and Zuko walked into the room, standing between Aang and Azula. At first, he was poised to strike, aiming for Azula. For a few seconds, no one said anything. Zuko's eyes flickered to focus on Aang. Aang let out a gasp. Zuko hurled his fist toward the young airbender. Aang jumped out of the way, using his airbending as a boost. Azula smiled. She whirled to face Katara and I, then hurled blue fire in our direction. We blocked it with our waterbending.

I prepared a ball of water with ice mixed in and was about to hurl it, but fire hit the ground at the base of my feet, causing me to lose my concentration. Ryuu jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of me. "It's been a while." I greeted in a friendly way. He blasted fire in my direction, but it was easy to block. I could tell he hadn't put his full effort into the blast.

"You're my sister!" He exclaimed almost angrily. He swing his foot through the air. And an arc of fire flew in my direction, but I ducked under it and hurled some ice at him. He speedily dodged it. "How come you never told me?"

I shrugged as I blocked another not-so-powerful fireball. "Never seemed like the right time." I blasted a powerful surge of water in his direction. He tried to block it with a wall of flames, but the force sent him skidding across the ground.

"I would have at least liked to know that I was stuck in a TV show." He grumbled under his breath so the others wouldn't hear him. He flipped to his feet as he engulfed himself in flames.

"Took you long enough to remember that." I put out the flames with another blast of water, then picked him up and held him in the air, suspended in a bubble of water, with his head sticking out so he could still breath. Aang had just shot Zuko clear across the room, so he was laying against a pile of crystals on the island in the middle. Ryuu and I were fighting in between the river and Katara/Azula. Water had crept over Katara's entire body. She attached her water arms to one of Azula's arms, and one of Azula's legs, then she proceeded to lift the princess into the air. Azula shouted helplessly. Zuko leaped to his feet and used a humongous fire version of the water whip to burst the bubble that I'd trapped Ryuu in and he broke Katara's water arms.

After this, there was a transition of opponents. I thanked the spirits that I didn't have to fight Azula. That girl was so OP that I didn't think it was physically possible for her to exist. Aang crawled out of the crater that he had created when attacking Zuko. Azula picked that prey almost immediately. Zuko had shot himself clear across the room to free Ryuu from the bubble I'd trapped him in, so now he stood facing me. Ryuu had crawled away and Katara helped him up, then the two of them fought each other without giving much effort as if neither of them wanted to hurt the other.

Zuko shot blasts of fire at me. I drew a wall of water from the river to block them, then pulled the water toward me and covered myself in it, just like Katara had a few moments ago. It felt like a body suit of water. I blocked blast after blast from Zuko.

"You don't have to do this, Zuko!" I shouted over the sounds of the crackling fire and the sizzling water. "Why don't you join us?"

"I've already chosen my side!" He retorted as my water arms clashed with his humongous fire whips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw blue fire coming towards me, so I blocked both Zuko and Azula's attacks with a wall of water. Azula prepared to blast me again, but a wall of water pushed her aside. Ryuu was lying on the ground a little ways away. I assumed that he was pretending to be unconscious, or he was pretending to be too weak to get up. Azula and Zuko both blasted huge balls of fire in our direction but we couldn't put up a shield that was powerful enough in time. We were blasted through the air, both of us crashing into a large crystal and skidding to the ground on the opposite side of the river from Azula and Zuko, who were both standing on the island now.

Just then, Aang burst out of the ceiling and started gliding towards us on a wave of earth, but a Dai Li agent broke his stride and he collapsed in front of Azula and Zuko. Dai Li agents jumped from the walls and ceiling, stealthily slinking out of the shadows. Katara and I weakly stood to our feet.

"Octopus formation?" I suggested weakly. She nodded and we both formed an octopus, but there were too many of them. Aang bended himself in a crystal dome and started to glow. A huge glowing light shot into the sky. He rose into the air, his eyes and tattoos glowing with a light that was bright enough to make someone blind. Electricity crackled through the air. Smoke rose from Azula's fingertips and Aang fell. Katara and I washed over the Dai Li in a humongous wave of water. She caught Aang and looked down at him, tears stinging in her eyes. I looked at her with a forlorn look on my face. Tears leaked from my eyes.

Azula and Zuko slowly walked towards us, but a blast of flames stopped them. Iroh leaped down to stand in front of us defensively. "You've got to get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!" Iroh cried as he blasted fire at the Dai Li agents and Zuko and Azula. Katara and I escaped up the waterfall.

I took out Appa's whistle and blew on it. When we reached the top of the waterfall, Appa was there waiting for us and we flew off, into the night. Katara pulled out her spirit water and used it on Aang while we all waited eagerly for a result. His tattoos glowed faintly and he opened his eyes, but then, he fell unconscious again. The Earth King looked back as we flew away.

"The Earth Kingdom. Has fallen."


	33. Chapter 32: Playing With Fire

Tikaani's POV:

"Ugh..." I groaned as I sat up in bed. I rubbed my eyes and felt around for my blanket, but, as usual, it had fallen onto the floor. I pulled it around me and tried to go back to sleep, but Red's snoring was so obnoxiously loud... _This is why I hate sharing rooms._ I sighed and stood to my feet before getting up and leaving the room. I walked through the halls of the cramped Water Tribe ship until I emerged on the deck. I wondered what time it was. There was a very faint yellow light on the horizon, but it wasn't dawn yet and the dark blue sky was still littered with stars. I walked to the edge of the deck to look out over the ocean.

The water slowly beat against the bottom of our boat. We had anchored for the night. I closed my eyes and tried to not think about what had happened underneath Ba Sing Se. Lightning coursing through Aang's body as he plummeted to the ground... Ba Sing Se becoming a distant speck on the horizon as we left it far behind us... That had only been about a week ago. Now, we were resting in the mouth of Chameleon Bay with the Water Tribe. A lot of good things had happened since we'd been here. I'd reunited with my father again. Red and Jet had finally found Chameleon Bay yesterday morning after being helplessly lost for about a week. I was glad that the Earth King had left already, he'd been getting on everyone's nerves.

But even with these tiny good things that have happened, everyone has been in a really dank and depressing mood. It was the kind of bad mood that was contagious, so it made everyone else feel bad too. Even though I knew that Aang was going to wake up, and even though I knew that we would eventually prevail against the Fire Nation, I couldn't fight off this sense of... Of... Hopelessness.

The only people who weren't down in the dumps were Red, who didn't really have any real reason to be depressed as long as her oh-so-precious Jet was with her *gag*, and Toph, who's tough as nails.

"Tikaani?" I jumped and turned around to see Toph standing behind me. _Speak of the devil!_

"Oh. Morning." I greeted drowsily.

"Is it really?" She raised an eyebrow. "It feels too cold out here for the sun to be up already."

"Well, it's almost up, but either way, it's still technically morning." I pointed out. "So what are you doing up so early?"

"To tell you the truth, I've been wanting to talk to you." Toph confessed. "And Red, but I guess just one will do."

I raised an eyebrow, confused. "About what?" _This ought to be interesting..._

"What are you two hiding?" She demanded.

My eyes widened. _No. Nonononononono. She CANNOT find out about our secret!_ I could feel my panic rising with the bile in the back of my throat. "Hiding?" I tried desperately to slow my heart rate, which I'm pretty sure was impossible to control. "We're not hiding anything!" _She can't tell, can she? YOU IDIOT, OF COURSE SHE CAN TELL._

"Wow. Even with the constant rocking of the ship I can tell how fast your heart's beating." Toph chuckled and snickered as she raised an eyebrow at me. "This must be _really_ juicy."

"I don't have to tell you!" I growled defensively. _I have to think of something to tell her! Something that is true, but still outrageous enough to be worth keeping a secret about._ "Okay, I kissed Zuko!" I suddenly blurted, cracking under the pressure. _NO. I DIDN'T WANT HER TO KNOW THAT! Ugh..._ I shook my head slowly. _Alright... But it's still better than telling her that Red and I are from a parallel dimension where this world is just a TV show. That would be the _perfect _way to _ruin _everything. Her knowing about Zuko is a lot better than_-

"No way!" She gasped. "OMG, I have GOT to tell EVERYONE!"

"No, Toph, please don't, I don't want anyone to know!" I begged. Then, I suddenly realized something. "OMG? How do you even know what that is?"

"Red." She stated as if that explained everything. "And if you don't want me to tell you anything, then maybe you should do something for me in return."

I sighed painfully. "Alright, alright..." I started walking back to my room. "I've got some money in my bag..."

"I don't want money." Toph replied. "I want you to teach me all of the cuss words that you and Red made up."

"What?" My eyes widened. "How do you-" I broke off. _D*** it Red, don't you know how to keep your f***ing mouth shut?_ "Fine." I gave in reluctantly. "I'll teach you some cuss words... But only when no one's around, and it sounds like everyone is starting to wake up, so not now." She smiled, looking very content with herself.

And only a few seconds later, practically the whole crew emerged onto the deck. That was Hakoda, Bato, my dad, some other Water Tribe men, Toph, Sokka, and Jet. Katara was probably working on another healing session with Aang, while Red would probably remain sleeping until someone woke her up. Someone had to do it every single morning, but no one ever wanted to because she slept with her arm blades on and lashed out at anyone who touched her while she was sleeping. Except Jet, of course, but he didn't like waking her up because of her morning attitude, so I ended up being the one stuck doing it every single morning.

_Sometimes that boy is a lot more of a sissy than he lets on to be. Then again, I can't blame him. Red does have _quite _the morning attitude._ I sighed as I made my way back to the ship's dormitories. I turned right into the room where Red and I slept. She was still snoring like a freight train.

"Red, wake up." I shook her shoulder a little bit, then ducked when one of her arm blades swiped towards me. _I feel bad for anyone who tries to rob her in the middle of the night..._ I thought angrily. I knew there was only one way to wake her up. "Jet wants you on the front deck."

As usual, she sat straight up in bed. "Is that lily liver seasick again?" She growled, jumping down from the top bunk. "I knew he wasn't crew material. I'm going to have to issue him a scurvy beating to the backside."

Without another word, Red strode out of the room. I sighed and collapsed onto the bottom bunk, then pulled the scrolls I had stolen from the spirit library out of my bag. Since I didn't have anything better to do, I had been using most of my access time to practice reading Japanese, and I had started deciphering some of the scrolls that I had snatched. (Sure, I could have joined my dad and the other men as they planned for the attack on the fire nation, but that was always so boring...) Sokka had helped me out at first, but now he was too busy planning with the other water tribe warriors. His guidance had pointed me in the right direction and I was finally having a little bit of success figuring out what they said.

_Ugh..._I thought in my head. _Why couldn't I have had any flashbacks about what I learned in the Fire Nation schools? That would have been helpful..._

I picked up the nearest scroll and unraveled it. It seemed to be a lot longer than the others, with thick, protective paper. I opened it to look at the title of the scroll, then studied the symbols and sifted through my translation book. "A Mortal's... Guide... To the... Spirit... World. A Mortal's Guide to the Spirit World. That was simple enough!" I smiled to myself at my success, then stopped. "Wait... A... A MORTAL'S GUIDE TO THE SPIRIT WORLD?"

Red's POV:

"Some of our scouting ships returned this morning." Hakoda announced as a majority of the men on the ship gathered below deck to listen to his most recent report. I only recognized two of them: Bato and Darek, Tikaani's dad. Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Jet were also there, but this place was still about as boring as watching paint dry. I sighed silently and inaudibly. _How come Tikaani doesn't have to come to these meetings but they made me come? I know I'm more militarily active than Tikaani, but that doesn't mean I enjoy boring track meets. _"A fleet of scout ships is approaching and it won't be long before they outnumber us four to one. We need a plan to defeat them, and we need one fast."

"But, Hakoda," Bato objected almost immediately, "if we fight them we'll be wiped out. Our ships can't handle another confrontation with the Fire Nation."

"We can't sit idly by and let them wipe us out!" Hakoda responded. "And I refuse to retreat."

"Bato is right." Darek piped up. "Our fleet is in poor state the way it is. The masts will never hold up against another Fire Nation attack, the hull is already damaged from previous encounters, and the sail has unpatched holes. I don't think we have much of a choice."

"And we also have Aang to think about!" Katara joined in. "If he's captured-or worse-the whole world will suffer. No matter what, we have to make sure that he's safe." I wasn't sure if that was a Kataang hint that I should be worried about, or if it was just her caring about the fate of the world. I decided not to worry about it. I was also too lazy and bored to respond.

"Then that means the only way to solve this problem is through ingenuity and creativity!" Sokka exclaimed, snapping his fingers.

"What you are saying is that we are going to try a sneaky roundabout method instead of a direct confrontation?" I suddenly blurted out. "THAT'S THE BORING AND UNEXCITING WAY!" I complained loudly.

"You didn't say that about ambushing Fire Nation troops back in the forest." Jet retorted.

"Who's side are you on?" I muttered, glaring at him.

"Speaking of sides..." Sokka smiled a clever smile and I could tell that an idea was coming to him. "I suggest that if we can't _beat_ the Fire Nation... We should join them!" Everything suddenly got really quiet.

"You can't possibly suggest that we switch sides!" Bato protested.

"Not sides. Just boats." Sokka's smile grew even wider.

"UGH." I whined. "You mean you're stealing the idea that Azula used to overthrow the Earth King? THAT IS SO UNORIGINAL!"

"Red, I think I heard something from the supply room." Hakoda suddenly announced. "Can you go check it out?"

"IF YOU WANTED TO GET RID OF ME SO BADLY, YOU COULD HAVE JUST ASKED!" I snapped before storming out of the room. I started to walk down the hallway, but stopped when I heard a loud thud from a nearby doorway. It was the supply room. _Whoa. Okay, so maybe Hakoda really _did _hear something and he just sent me because I was being super obnoxious. Hehe. I love getting on people's nerves. _

"Who's there?" I asked as I opened the door that led to where we kept our vast array of supplies. The entire room seemed eerily quiet. I heard wood creaking, but there was something else sounding in the dark. The sound of extremely heavy breathing that for some reason seemed the slightest bit familiar. I took another step into the darkness and the door closed behind me. "What the?" I turned around to open the door again, but when I pulled on it, nothing happened.

_Well isn't this so cliche. _I thought grumpily as I looked around. _Stuck in a creepy dark room and I can't get the door open and there may or may not be some sort of creepy, heavy-breathing stalker in here. Good thing I have my arm blades. _I flicked my arms and the blades popped out. "I have a pair of deadly blades attached to my arms and I will use them if you so much as come within a foot of where I'm standing!"

"Red?" I voice called out in the dark and before I could even process that the voice had known my name and that it was familiar, I swung my blade in the voice's direction. A loud _clang_ rattled through the supply room as my blade struck metal. A raucous laugh filled the entire room. I would recognize that laugh anywhere. "Pipsqueak? What on earth are you doing here?"

"Stealing food." He replied as if it were obvious. The door opened and I realized that The Duke had used his helmet to wedge the door shut, but he had now removed it. My half brother smiled up at me joyfully.

"I meant what are you doing away from the forest?" I pressed.

"Hey Red!" The Duke greeted me with a goofy grin. "After Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot, and you left, it got _really_ boring. So we decided to leave too!"

"Oh. Well Longshot and Smellerbee went back to the Freedom Fighters anyway. Jet's here too you know." I told them.

"Figured as much." Pipsqueak chuckled.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Oh, just that it was totally obvious that you two had feelings for each other and that you couldn't stay apart from one another for that long." Pipsqueak answered, sniggering.

"YUCK!" The Duke cried as he covered his ears and a disgusted look crossed his face. I chuckled at the adorableness and ignored what Pipsqueak had said.

"Whatever... Why don't you guys join us? We could use some help, you know. We're planning an invasion on the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun." I explained. Pipsqueak's smile broadened.

"Sure. We'd be making a bigger impact on the Fire Nation than we were in the forest." He responded. The Duke nodded in agreement.

"Sweet. Jet'll be glad to see you."

Tikaani's POV:

"Mortals can enter the spirit world through meditation and dedication." I read aloud to myself as I studied the scroll. I had been deciphering it all morning, trying to find out how to enter the spirit world. In the beginning it had been super difficult because some of the japanese symbols didn't appear in my book and I had to use context clues to guess what they meant, which didn't exactly help me out in my situation. The first few paragraphs went on and on about how dangerous it was for a non-avatar to enter the spirit world. The scroll went into detail about ancient spirit monsters like Koh the Face Stealer and Hei Bai. I was cool with Hei Bai, though, even if he did trap me in the Fog of Lost Souls for twenty four hours. Koh scared me, but I knew where he lived so I'd just have to be extra sure to stay away from that part of the spirit swamp.

"This tactic was commonly used by airbenders and can be used at any time during any place. As long as the meditator can effectively clear their mind to make way for the spirit world, they will be able to enter it. Be warned that all weapons and bending will disappear upon entering the spirit world and some spirits are extremely hostile towards humans." I read on. _Well that sounds pleasant. _I thought grumpily. _I don't want to get attacked by a spirit beast... Should I really try to go to the spirit world? _"But other spirits will be intrigued and friendly. The past avatars roam the spirit world when they are not needed for guidance of the current avatar."

_I could meet other avatars in the spirit world? _I was amazed by such a fact, and wondered if I really would meet one of the past avatars while I was there. _Of course not. _I reminded myself as I remembered the Lost Episode. Right now, Aang would be getting help and guidance from his past avatars, so I wouldn't have met any of them. I kept reading. "Other mortals currently in the spirit world may also be of help." I had to read that line again. _I could encounter other mortals in the spirit world?_ I was both shocked and amazed. _So if someone decides to go into the spirit world at the same time I do, I could see them there? That's wicked cool! But... Who else would be in the spirit world? Would anyone else know how without this scroll? _I read over some of the previous paragraphs again. _Well... Only one way to find out._

I readied myself in a meditating position, then took a deep inward breath. As I exhaled, I emptied my mind of all thoughts, or at least I tried. It turned out that doing so was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I kept thinking about how exciting it would be in the spirit world. Not only that, but I kept worrying about how the invasion plans were coming along and about whether or not Ryuu was okay. _Clear your mind._ I told myself again. I returned to my futile meditation efforts. "Why can't a master this?"

"You, my friend, are no Jedi." A voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see Red standing in the doorway watching me. "Successful meditation takes discipline and focus, something you surely lack. You have a lot to learn, young Padawan."

"Ha, ha, very funny." I rolled my eyes, but also laughed. "So what do you suggest, Master Jedi?"

"Every time you are about to think something irrelevant, kick that thought in the face." Red answered. "You are meditating. Any irrelevant thoughts that try to break through are violating your process and need to be dealt with."

"Kicking thoughts in the face? That doesn't even make sense! Besides, I've been trying to clear my head for-"

"Do or do not. There is no try." Red quickly interjected. "Seriously, that is one of the most basic lessons, Padawan."

"Okay, Miss Sassy-Pants, but I'm not exactly the best when it comes to not thinking about anything at all." I admitted.

"No one is. It's virtually impossible." Red replied. "The trick isn't to think about _nothing._ It's to only think about _one_ thing. What exactly are you trying to meditate about anyway?"

"Getting into the spirit world." I answered. "This scroll is basically an instruction manual on how to do so."

"You're kidding!" Red gasped in disbelief. "You can actually go to the spirit world even though you're not an avatar?"

"Yes." I once again re-read some of the symbols and hoped that I wasn't misinterpreting them. "I've been practicing to read Japanese. If we ever get back to our world, I need to take an actual class, but for now I'm using these scrolls I stole from the spirit library. Sokka _was_ helping me read before he had to help with the battle plans. Anyway, this scroll is called 'A Mortal's Guide to the Spirit World.'"

"That is wicked cool. In this case, the only thing you have to do is to only think about going to the spirit world." Red advised as she looked through some of the very few pictures in my spirit guide. "If you start thinking about anything else, just replace it with spirit world thoughts like the past avatars or Rava."

"Okay. I will." I closed my eyes. This time I focused as hard as I could. Every time a new thought or worry that wasn't about the spirit world popped into my head, I quickly dismissed it. Soon, there were no thoughts in my head except for the ones that were excited and happy to experience what it would be like in the spirit world. I felt the mortal world slowly starting to slip away. Then, the ship creaked and gave a sudden lurch, throwing me out of bed. "Ow..." I complained.

"Maybe we should wait until we capture that Fire Nation ship." Red told me. "These old water tribe boats aren't exactly what I'd call 'top notch.'"

"No kidding." I grumbled and I stood back onto my feet. "So when are we going to capture the Fire Nation ship?"

"Tonight. You missed a lot at the battle meeting today. Not that it matters much since you've read 'The Lost Adventures.' Right now all the benders are on deck helping us sink these crummy Water Tribe ships."

"I guess that means I should be on deck too." I sighed as I packed up all of the scrolls from the spirit library. I had really been looking forward to going to the spirit world today. _I guess it will have to wait..._

Ryuu's POV:

_Stuck in a TV show._ I was still trying to comprehend what I had learned in the Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. _If this is really just a TV show, why does everything feel so real. I look like an anime person, but I still feel like a real person. It is so _awkward.

I was in the palace at Ba Sing Se. Since the Fire Nation had taken over, I could walk around the place as I pleased. We wouldn't be leaving for the Fire Nation until tomorrow night, though. I didn't know where Zuko was right now. Kandace-Tikaani now, I guess-never forced me to read any of the comic books she had. I knew there were a few about what happened in between the episodes and seasons, leading up to certain events, but I had never actually read any of them. I should have. But I guess that I probably never would have foreseen the two of us getting sucked into a TV show. And now that I was here, I was beginning to realize just how good the show was. The character development was great, the plotline was even better, and who doesn't love a show about bunch of people who can throw fire and earth with their fists? I honestly couldn't understand why I'd hated the show so much before. It was probably just because I'd watched it so many times.

But as I roamed through the mostly empty halls of the Earth King's palace and thought about how great it was to be in a TV show, I couldn't help but also think about home. Was there any way that we could go back? _Not that I want to._ I quickly corrected myself. _It's not like there is anything there for me. Our foster parents don't really care about us, anyone could tell. We always move around a lot, from one foster home to another. I never bothered making friends, but Kandace-I mean Tikaani-always stayed in touch with hers. Would... Would she want to go back? She must miss her friends... I might not have had any, but she sure did._

As my thoughts wandered farther, so did I. I wandered through a hall filled with shimmering jewels and through the beautiful palace gardens. I stopped by the kitchen for a cup of jasmine tea, but threw it out right away. It didn't taste nearly as good as Uncle Iroh's. I'd have to start brewing some myself if I wanted it to be made with _love_ like Uncle Iroh's was. I'd gotten so used to calling him uncle. He was like family to me. Maybe I would visit him a couple times in prison. I would definitely need some of his advice, both in life and in my tea-making skills.

I rounded another corner in the palace halls, but stopped dead. Azula was walking down the hallway in my direction. She didn't look upset, angry, or suspicious, but there was something radiating off of her that made me feel uncomfortable. Even though she was a firebender, her heart was filled with ice. She was cruel and cold. I had only ever been scared of two girls from the show before. Azula was one of them. The other one was that crazy old waterbender who invented bloodbending. I always hated that episode.

"Greetings, Ryuu." She said coldly. "The guards informed me that you've been wandering."

"Guards?" I was a bit confused by that statement. I hadn't seen any guards. Then again, maybe I had been so busy thinking that I hadn't noticed them.

"Yes. The Dai Li." Azula reminded. As if on cue, two Dai Li agents dropped down from the ceiling to stand on either side of Azula.

"Oh. Right." I replied, feeling stupid. I also felt like Azula was trying to intimidate me, letting me know that she had an army of earthbenders awaiting her every command. She probably could have intimidated me without the threat of an earthbending army.

"So what are you up to?" Azula pried, her eyes narrowing to slits. "People only wander when they are too deep in thought to stay still. You aren't feeling any _regrets_, are you?"

"No." I replied, carefully concealing any traces of hesitation. "I was thinking, but not about that."

"Then what?" She pressed, still staring at me with narrowed eyes.

I racked my brain, trying to think of something to tell her that would be at least a little bit believable. When an idea did come to mind, I was flabbergasted. _No, that couldn't possibly work... _But if I didn't answer soon, Azula would pick up on my hesitation. _Could it? _Running out of time to think of another idea, I finally said something. "I was just thinking of the best possible way to ask a pretty firebender on a date."

Azula just blinked at me. I could tell that I had taken her off guard, and I was proud of myself for that considering that it wasn't very easy to do. _Maybe this idea could work. If I start 'dating' Azula, I'll be able to earn her trust. It will be easier to give Katara and her friends inside information on the Fire Nation. _

"I'm flattered." Azula eventually said, smiling in a way that I had never seen her smile on the show before; nonthreatening, almost as if she didn't want to kill someone. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. On the episode with Azula's vacation to Ember Island, it had been revealed that Azula was insecure when it came to dating. I almost felt guilty for using her, but then I remembered how evil she was. "You know, we wouldn't make such a bad couple. Together, we could dominate the earth!" She took out her hands and two blue fireballs raged, tinging her face with blue light. She looked very threatening again.

I tried not to be scared, knowing that this was just the way Azula normally acted. If I was going to be her fake boyfriend until the invasion, I was going to have to get used to it. It might take a little bit considering just how gosh-darn scary Azula can be at times. "That's adorable." I replied. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Yes. We will make a fine couple indeed. But let me ask you something. Why are you so willing to flirt with me after I killed your mother and tried to kill you and your sister?" Azula was suddenly looking skeptical. Of course she would ask that question.

"I was actually going to thank you for that." I lied. "You see, when you hit me with your lightning attack, I lost my memory. I've only recently regained it, and now that I look back on everything, I know that my mother was wrong to betray the Fire Nation. I know that it is my duty to correct her mistakes by giving the Fire Nation my complete loyalty."

"How noble of you." She moved closer to me, which made me feel uncomfortable, but I smiled, pretending to like it. Before I knew what was happening, she kissed me. I kissed her back, but only because I had to. If I didn't, she would figure it out. She wasn't a good kisser, but she wasn't exactly bad either. It was mediocre, but that was to be expected since I assumed I was her first kiss.

Red's POV:

"I absolutely love Fire Nation clothing." I declared as I put on one of the spare Fire Nation robes that I found on the ship we had captured from the Fire Nation. Taking the ship had actually been a lot easier than we had thought, and although I wasn't a fan of Sokka's plan, I couldn't complain about the results. Fire Nation silk was one of the softest fabrics that I had ever felt. It was probably because it was made from the wool of a koala sheep, which are practically clouds with legs and koala faces. The silky feeling was only the beginning. Fire nation clothes were stylish, and they almost always came in my favorite color: Red! Of course they did smell like ash, but beggars can't be choosers.

Now that we had the Fire Nation ship, we could easily infiltrate Fire Nation waters. From here, we would be traveling through the Serpent's Pass, and then we would cut across the Earth Kingdom and head west to the Fire Nation. I was standing above deck and watching the scenery while Katara was below deck having another healing session with Aang. Tikaani was meditating again, and I didn't want to bother her.

"What's that?" I suddenly heard Darek yell out. I looked ahead to see this humongous wall in the distance, blocking off part of the Serpent's Pass. It was a Fire Nation gateway point. We would have to pass it before we could head to the Fire Nation.

"You've got to hand it to the Fire Nation." Sokka pointed out. "They might be tyrants, but they certainly are fine engineers."

"So what do we do now?" Bato asked, staring up at the evil barricade.

"Isn't it obvious? We have to put our disguise to the test!" I declared.

We hid Appa below deck. Katara came up to see why we had stopped.

"Where are you headed soldier?" As our ship approached the barricade, one of the guards at the top called out to us.

"The Water Tribe navy has been completely destroyed." Hakoda responded. He was wearing the armor of a Fire Nation captain. "Our orders are to head west to rendezvous with the fleet out there, so if you wouldn't mind letting us pass…"

The soldier at the gate looked down at us with a stern look. Then, he smiled brightly. "Good sailing, soldier!" And the gate creaked open. "By the time you join the fleet, they'll probably send you straight home!"

"What makes you say that?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Didn't you hear? The war's almost over. The avatar was killed at Ba Sing Se!"

"Really? That's wonderful news!" I cried excitedly so that the soldier on the barricade could here me.

"Happy sailing!" He called after us as we finally began to sail away. I looked around. Katara looked so angry that I was afraid her head might explode. Pipsqueak and the Duke were both concerned, Toph seemed surprised, and Sokka was smiling slyly. Jet looked angry too, but that might have just been his crazy eyebrows, which, by the way, are super hot.

"So the avatar is dead..." Sokka mused, still smiling.

"What are you so happy about? They think they've won!" Katara growled irritably, which didn't shake Sokka's mood.

"I know. And that's just the break we needed!"

"Sokka's right." I added. "The Fire Nation thinks that the avatar is dead, and that the Water Tribe navy has been wiped out. They also have Ba Sing Se. Now that they think they've won, they'll let their guard down. It'll be a lot easier for us to sneak into the Fire Nation. Not only that, but we'll have a huge surprise advantage when we start the invasion." As much as I didn't like sneaky roundabout ways of confronting my enemies, I had to admit that sneak attacks and surprise strategies were much more effective than head-to-head confrontations. And at least Sokka had put me in charge of some of the armor and weapons for the invasion. I would have some work cut out for me, but at least I would be doing something I enjoyed: designing weapons!

Tikaani's POV:

I had finally done it. I had entered the spirit world. I wasn't sure what to think of it at first. I had awoken in a boggy, swamp-like place that I recognized from when Aang had been in the spirit world during the Siege of the North. I wished it wasn't so dark. The spirit world from The Legend of Korra was a lot brighter and more colorful than this boggy swamp. I had always wondered why Korra's spirit world was so different. Maybe it was because of everything that the Fire Nation had done. Maybe the damage that they had caused to the real world also negatively affected the spirit world. It made sense. After wiping out the air nomads, who were the spiritual guardians of the world, the spirit world would have been heavily damaged. And after Aang defeated the Fire Lord, he started to rebuild the Air Nation. Perhaps that helped improve the condition of the spirit world over time. As of now, however, it was a run-down, boggy swamp.

_I guess it's still cool to just be in the spirit world. Airbenders probably used to come here all the time before the start of the war. _I took a step forward, but tripped on a tree root that had been submerged under water, covering myself in mud and algae. "Thanks, spirit world. I really needed that." I muttered. _And I can't even bend the mud or water out of my clothes. Excellent._ I sighed as I kept trying to traverse through the tangled mess of vines and tree roots and thick algae. This trip into the spirit world was not turning out how I thought it would. _I guess being in the spirit world isn't all it's cracked up to be... Maybe I should go..._

But it was then that I realized I hadn't taken the time to finish reading the scroll I'd found in the spirit library. I'd only read the beginning about how to enter the spirit world. _I have no idea how to leave this place. _I looked around, but there were no spirits nearby who could tell me. _Okay, this is bad. I have no idea how to leave this place and I am pretty sure that the spirit food isn't edible. That means I will most likely die of starvation. Just great. _

_Stay calm._ I reminded myself. _I'm sure you'll find _someone _who knows how to leave this place. The scroll said that other mortals in the spirit world could help me. Other mortals in the spirit world? The airbenders were gone. What other mortal would enter the spirit world? _I couldn't help but sigh as I continued to walk through the dreary swamp. Then, as I walked, I noticed a bright light shining through the swamp trees ahead. I kept walking, and noticed that the vines were starting to thin out. _That's odd..._

Eventually, the swamp came to an end and I found myself standing in a beautiful clearing. Green grass and flowers grew in a circle around a small pool of water that seemed to glimmer with the light of the moon.

"Whoa..." I walked up to the water and stared into the reflection, but for some reason, there was none. The water remained a clear, azure-blue color even though I was standing right in front of it. I looked around at the trees and grass and plants that surrounded the small pool of water. "What is this place?"

"I see you've found your way to the spirit world." A calm, wise voice answered and I jumped in surprise. I hadn't been expecting to hear anyone answer. I turned my head to see Iroh sitting at one end of the clearing. I hadn't seen him before because his green earthbender clothing blended in with the bushes behind him.

"Iroh?" I asked in surprise, though I should have guessed that he would be here. I knew that Iroh had a strong connection with the spirits, and it would make sense that he would come here whenever he wasn't beefing himself up for the Day of Black Sun.

Iroh smiled. "Ah. You are one of the waterbenders traveling with the avatar." He observed peacefully. "Forgive me for not knowing your name."

"Tikaani." I told him, walking over and sitting next to him. "So what brings you to the spirit world?"

"Prison is a dark and dreary place. The spirit world gives me an escape from the confines of my cell." Iroh smiled, then looked at me. "Why have you come to the spirit world?"

"I don't know. I guess I kind of came to look for answers." I didn't know whether what I had just said was the truth or a lie. Maybe I did come here looking for answers. I had secretly been hoping that maybe a spirit would know how we-Red, Ryuu, and I-had gotten teleported to the Avatarverse. But I couldn't tell Iroh that! Could I? _No, of course you can't! _"When I was under Ba Sing Se, I thought Zuko had changed. But... In the end, he decided to help Azula..."

"You should not hold that against him." Iroh advised peacefully. "Zuko is going through a very troublesome time right now. He is confused and he does not know the difference between right and wrong anymore."

"Yeah. You're right." I agreed, nodding my head slowly. "I'm also worried about Ryuu. He's sloppy and he can sometimes be a little stupid. And Azula is... Well, she's evil, observant, smart, manipulating... What if he blows his cover?"

Iroh looked at me curiously. "You sound very concerned for him. Do you know him well?"

"He's my brother." I answered.

"Your brother!" He exclaimed in disbelief, seeming shocked by what I had just told him. Then, after he thought about it for a few moments and nodded slowly, as if he was starting to put the pieces together. "Under Ba Sing Se, Azula mentioned that Ryuu's parents were both traitors to their respective nations. You are a waterbender and he is a firebender. If you two are siblings, then both of your parents would have been considered traitors to their nations."

"Yes. And because of Azula he had his memory wiped, so he could never tell you. I think he finally got it back underneath Ba Sing Se."

"Well I'm sure Ryuu will be fine." Iroh replied. "As long as he keeps his distance from Azula."

Ryuu's POV:

"I can't believe you're dating my sister." Zuko growled as we walked through the halls of the Fire Nation ship. He had been grumbling nonstop ever since he had found out about our relationship. "She's fourteen!"

"And I'm sixteen. There's nothing wrong with that, we're both still minors." I argued, wishing that Zuko would just drop it already. "It's not like I'm going to break her heart or anything, Mr. Protective Older Brother. Frankly, I'd be way too afraid that she'd murder me in my sleep or something to do that."

"I'm not being a protective older brother. Honestly, I couldn't care less what you do with Azula." Zuko snapped back, looking away angrily. "What I can't believe is that you, a happy-go-lucky, carefree idiot could end up with a sneaky, manipulative genius."

"Okay, I might be stupid sometimes, but idiot is taking it a little to far." I protested. "If would prefer the term Goofy Goober. Thank you."

"What does that even mean?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." I replied. "Now if you excuse me, I am going to go make out with your sister." A complete and total lie, but I had to make sure that he wouldn't follow me to where I was going. I also knew how much it got on his nerves when I said that, which was an added bonus. What I really wanted to do was go talk to Iroh. But when I got there, two guards were standing out front. The prison hold wasn't sound proof so even if they did let me in to talk to him, it would be regulated. There would be no point in going inside. _Besides... He's probably in the spirit world again. _

While Zuko and I had traveled through the Earth Kingdom, there were always points in our journey when Iroh would go off to be alone. Zuko usually didn't bother him, after that whole fiasco with seeing Iroh naked in the hot springs a while back. But I was always curious. One time I followed him and I found out that he was meditating himself into the spirit world. He did it a lot too. It was always in between episodes when nothing important was going on.

_I guess since there's nothing better to do, I'll just go play with Uma._ I had managed to convince Azula to let me take her. Azula couldn't understand why I was so fond of that 'stupid, smelly animal,' but Uma was family. I told her I wouldn't leave the Earth Kingdom without Uma, so she eventually agreed. But Uma was asleep, so I just decided to go to bed.

**I honestly had no idea where to end this... :/**


	34. Chapter 33: Family Sticks Together

Red's POV:

"You know, you could at least spend a little bit of time here in the _waking world_." I grumbled loudly as I trudged into the room that Tikaani and I were sharing aboard the Fire Nation ship. The ship was big and there were more than enough rooms to go around even with all of the water tribe soldiers traveling with us. I just thought it was better to share a room. With Tikaani off playing with the spirits in the spirit world so often, she sometimes forgot to actually wake up and eat. I had to remind her to do it every time she came to. It was starting to get really annoying and I made a personal note to yell at her the next time she was actually in the waking world.

Then again, I couldn't really blame her. The time in between episodes when we have no idea what is going on is always the most boring. I liked it a lot better when we were in an actual episode and could actually do something fun and exciting. And Tikaani wasn't helping with the invasion plans-or helping craft personified armor and weapons for some of the soldiers like I was-so she was extra bored. I could understand why she would want to go to the spirit world so often. She could talk to Iroh and get advice about stuff. And who doesn't like talking to old men who make amazing tea and give life-saving advice? I know I was jealous.

"Aang will be waking up any day now, maybe even today." I spoke aloud even though I knew she couldn't hear me all the way from the spirit world. Another thing that really annoyed me was that I had to feed her pet because she only woke up at one time a day and it just so happened to be his nap time. Muu also needed to be played with regularly or else he'd get into trouble. I also had to hold him over the edge of the ship whenever he had to go to the bathroom, otherwise I would be stuck cleaning it up. "And I find it very annoying that you spend more than half of your waking hours in some alternate dimension splashing around in a swamp and having picnics with Iroh next to an ancient undiscovered spirit pool."

"Stop being so grumpy." Tikaani's voice responded.

"_FINALLY!_" I snarled. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to wake up. Honestly, you have no idea how annoyed I am with you right now. I've been taking care of your pet for the past I don't know how many weeks."

"Sorry." Tikaani apologized. I got the feeling from the way she said it that she wasn't sorry at all. "That was my last time in the spirit world for a while, anyway. Iroh wasn't there like he usually is. I think that he's started preparing for the Day of Black Sun. And I'm sure Muu hasn't been that much trouble."

"Oh really? Because he ate one of Sokka's hair ties and destroyed my favorite pair of those elfy Fire Nation slippers." I argued, letting anger seep slowly into my voice.

"What's gotten into you recently?" Tikaani suddenly asked. "You've been in such a bad mood ever since... Well ever since we left Ba Sing Se."

"Well you know how much I hate riding on boats!" I snapped. "Plus... Well, I guess I was kind of hoping that I could have patched things up with my mother while I was in Ba Sing Se. Maybe there was a way that I could have brought back her memory like Aang did after Long Feng took control of Jet." I looked away and sighed deeply. Even if there was a way, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it now. I would have to wait until after Sozin's Comet. And... And I had no idea what would happen after that. What if we got sent straight back to the real world after Sozin's Comet? How were we even in the Avatarverse in the first place? What if... What if it was all in my head, just a dream?

"We can go back to Ba Sing Se after Sozin's Comet." Tikaani answered confidently.

"But that's just it. We don't know what happens to us after Sozin's Comet ends. What if that's the end of us being here?" I was starting to get nervous that Sozin's Comet actually was when we would get sent back to our own world. It was inevitable, wasn't it? Wouldn't we eventually get sent back to our own world, ending everything that we've been doing here? "What if we get sent back?"

"To the real world?" I could see that Tikaani suddenly looked just as worried as I was. "I never considered it before... But we don't even know how we got here in the first place."

"Yes we do! The storm, remember? With the fire and the wind and the rain and the earth was moving... What if the comet sends us home? Or what if another storm comes after the comet?" I had no idea where I was going with this rant, but I knew that one thing was for sure: Tikaani and I were not meant to be here. And if we weren't meant to be here... What did that mean for us?

"As a friend of mine once said, 'while we're here, we might as well make the most of it.' That was you." Tikaani looked at me with a serious expression that held no doubts. "I think it's time you took your own advice."

"But you took that out of context!" I accused, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Yes, yes I did, but it still holds." Tikaani looked at me determinedly. "We don't know why we're here or how that storm transported us here, but I know that there was a reason, a good reason. And I have a feeling that we will find out why we are here and how we got here. But until we find out, we can't worry about what's going on back in our world or what will happen when we get back. We need to focus on the show."

I nodded slowly. What Tikaani said definitely made sense, and I couldn't argue with what she said. "You're right. But as soon as Sozin's Comet is over, I'm going to go looking for some answers."

"I think that's a good idea. Maybe I could talk to some of the past avatars in the spirit world! I haven't had the chance yet, but that's only because Aang's been hogging their attention." Tikaani mumbled in annoyance before deciding to change the subject. "How close are we to the first episode of season three?"

"Beats me. It's not like they have a proper calendar or-"

"You hear something?" Pipsqueak's voice sounded from somewhere outside our room. I then heard the sound of a loud gush of air. "He's awake!" Pipsqueak shouted.

"Well... I'm guessing that it's starting right now." I opened the door in time to see Pipsqueak and The Duke chasing Aang down the hallway. I followed as quickly as I could. No way was I going to miss any of the action.

We chased Aang through the halls of the Fire Nation ship until he tripped and fell going up the stairs. Hakoda, Bato and Darek looked up from where they were all gathering around Momo.

"Momo?" Aang questioned in disbelief. The little lemur scampered across the deck and started licking Aang's face.

"Twinkle toes! That's gotta be you!" Toph cheered excitedly. Her and Katara ran over to where Aang was. Pipsqueak and the Duke hurried past me up the stairs to stand next to Jet where they could see Aang from the front. Tikaani and I hung back because _someone_ had to catch Aang when he eventually fell.

"Aang, you're awake!" Katara exclaimed.

"Yeah. He finally woke up." I stated flatly from where I was standing behind him. "Took him long enough."

"Red!" Tikaani's voice had a chastising tone, so I mocked her. She then put her hands on her hips and stared at me with a rather cross look on her face.

"Are you sure? I feel like I'm dreaming." Aang mumbled, ignoring my behavior.

"You're not dreaming!" Katara hugged Aang. "You're finally awake!"

"Aang! Good to see you back with the living, buddy!" Sokka also hugged Aang and his voice sounded echoey because he was still wearing the mask on his Fire Nation helmet.

"Sokka?" Aang asked in disbelief. He then started swaying slightly from side to side.

"Uh-oh, somebody catch him, he's gonna-!" Toph called out the warning and Tikaani and I both stretched out our arms to catch him.

"Well... Looks like sleeping beauty needs a little bit more rest."

Ryuu's POV:

The one bad thing about dating the evil Fire Nation Princess while you're trying to send the avatar and his friends secret information on the Fire Nation is that she never knocks. Honestly she just barges into the room like she owns the place. She almost walked in on me writing letters to Katara a few times. The cool thing about having my memory wiped was that it was super easy for me to learn Japanese writing when Iroh taught me back on his ship. I just never mentioned it before because I didn't realize it was important until I got my memory back. I can read _and_ write in Japanese! That is pretty wickedly awesome.

The _good_ thing about dating the evil Fire Nation Princess is that no one ever messes with me. Plus, she gave me a Fire Hawk so I could send letters to some of the top Fire Nation generals. According to her, if I can impress them, I could end up getting a high rank in the Fire Nation, which will make her father much more impressed with me. I actually have written to some of them, but only because that provides the perfect cover for me to send letters to the Gaang without Azula getting suspicious.

"Writing another letter, Ryuu?" As if on cue, Azula's voice sounded from the doorway. I was currently in the middle of writing to a certain Admiral Chan who was currently on leave at Ember Island, so I didn't have to hide the letter when Azula started reading over my shoulder. "I see that you tend to use flattery to win over the hearts of the Fire Nation officials." She observed, her eyes narrowing. "Has it ever occurred to you that fear would be a much more efficient form of motivation?"

"Yes, actually, it has. Unfortunately, I don't think I would be able to pull it off as well as you can." I confessed. I definitely wouldn't be able to frighten people to do anything. "Plus, I don't think it will go over to well if I write some of the top Fire Nation officials threatening letters."

"That just shows how little you know of the corrupt Fire Nation government. If you threaten them aimlessly, they will think of you a simple nuisance, with no backbone to your words. But, if you can learn to threaten them in just the right way, it will terrify them to the very core." Azula always spoke with a certain malice. Every word she said terrified me more than the last, even if she wasn't threatening me at all. It was unnerving. I hated it. But at the same time, I had to admit that it was kind of hot, in a weird way. "And if you continue to threaten them, they may start to talk about it and act strangely. When they start exhibiting such behavior, my father will notice."

"The Fire Lord?" I was confused as to what Azula was trying to say. "I could get noticed and receive special permission from the Fire Lord by _threatening _high-ranking individuals?" That is so... Backwards. "Well, that's corrupt."

"And that is why it is our favorite method." Azula replied, snickering.

"I can't argue with that. But... I have no idea how to make a letter sound frightening enough to do that." I really wanted her to just leave me alone, but I couldn't send her away because that might make her suspicious. Plus, if I could somehow end up gaining the trust of the _Fire Lord_, I would be even better off with sending secret information to the Gaang. "Perhaps you could help with this first letter?"

Azula's lips spread into a devious, almost evil smile. She pulled up a chair next to me and we slowly worked through the letter word by word. If I placed each particular word in a certain way and made sure that my hand was steady and my handwriting smooth, the letter would appear more threatening to someone who read it. I was amazing at Azula's skill with words. She knew how to inspire fear, even in her writing. I felt like she would even be able to inspire fear if she were just sending a text.

"And that..." She trailed off as I finished the letter. "Is how you can make sure that you inspire fear in your writing. Tomorrow, we shall work on your demeanor."

"I look forward to it." I lied, surprised to find out that it was actually starting to get easier to lie to Azula.

"As do I." She replied, slowly walking out of the room. As soon as she had left, I pulled out another piece of paper and started my next letter to Katara.

Tikaani's POV:

"Why are we on a Fire Nation ship?" Aang asked in bewilderment as he stared around at all of us. We were all gathering around him as he sat on the main deck. He had only reawoken a short time ago, and he was still confused and disoriented. "Why is everyone dressed this way? And why am I the only one who is completely out of it?" As Aang kept asking questions, everyone except for Katara fanned out to give him some space.

"You need to take it easy, okay?" Katara told him as worry crossed her face. "You got hurt pretty bad." Aang looked down sadly and felt his side.

"And by the way, nice fro little man." Red joked, butting in to Katara and Aang's moment. "It's impressive, at least for an 112-year-old."

"She means nice hair." I translated, since he obviously didn't know what a 'fro' was supposed to be. It wasn't really a fro, but I knew Red was just joking about it.

"I HAVE HAIR?" Aang felt his head in shock and was astounded to find out that he had grown a fluffy carpet of hair. "How long was I out?"

"A few weeks." Katara answered calmly.

"Yeah. You were in a coma." Red joined in.

"Would you mind giving us a little privacy?" Katara barked angrily at Red. "Your interruptions are kind of annoying."

"Well that was rude." Red grumbled, walking off. I followed her.

"You're still acting grumpy." I pointed it out because her bad attitude was starting to worry me. I thought we had settled the issue earlier, but maybe there was something else bothering her. Something other than her mother, and the fact that we didn't know why we were here. "Are you sure there's nothing serious bothering you?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She snapped. "Other than the fact that my father tried to kill me and my mother doesn't remember who I am and I might never get the chance to make it right, I'm hunky-dory. You got the chance to meet your dad. How come I don't get the chance to talk to my mom?"

"Red, I... I didn't know that you felt that way... I'm sorry." I looked down at the floor of the ship guiltily. I knew why she felt the way she did. "If you want, I can help you get to the spirit world. Maybe now that Aang is awake, we'll be able to find one of the past avatars and ask them why we're here."

"But how are they supposed to know?" Red questioned.

"I don't know. But we could at least ask them and see if they know anything, or maybe if they know anyone who would know something." I didn't know what else to say on the matter. "I know it's a longshot... But what other leads do we have?"

Red slowly started nodding. "Okay. I guess it's at least worth the effort to ask."

Red's POV:

"When you told me this place was a filthy mud hole, you weren't kidding." I growled. This filthy swamp was really annoying. I kept getting swamp water all over me, and even in my mouth. The worst part was that Tikaani couldn't even use her bending to get it out of our clothes because bending was impossible in the spirit world.

"Be respectful. We need to find one of the avatars, and if you talk like that, they won't want to be associated with you." Tikaani replied. "Besides, I never said that."

"Well not that _exactly_, but somewhere along those lines. So how far do we have to travel through this sickening ooze before we get to the spirit pool?" I once again insulted the place, ignoring Tikaani's warnings.

She sighed and rolled her eyes at me. "It's just up ahead, okay?"

"You're just saying that, aren't you?" But just as I said that, the swamp instantly gave way to a row of thick green foliage, like that of a forest. We made our way through a patch of bushes and then the two of us were standing in a grassy clearing. The only problem was that there was no spirit pool in the middle of the clearing. "Where is it?"

"I don't know." Tikaani replied, sounding genuinely confused. "It's supposed to be right here. It's always in this direction, I don't know why it isn't here."

"Great, you got us lost." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Just great, you..." I trailed off as something caught my eye. I looked up to see a bright light shining from above us. "Hey... What's that light?"

"I don't know!" Tikaani said again as she also looked up. She put her hand up to visor her eyes the light came closer, but there was still no distinct shape in the light. "Wait... Is that... Yue?"

"No." The glowing then stopped to reveal Avatar Yangchen, the airbending avatar before Aang. "I am Avatar Yangchen." **[Yes, I know Yangchen looks nothing like Yue, but she was too bright to see before.]**

"Let's cut straight to the chase." I demanded as I stepped towards Avatar Yangchen. "Do you know who we are? Do you know that we aren't from here?"

"Red!" Tikaani gaped at me in dismay. "She's an avatar! You can't be disrespectful."

"It is all right, waterbender. I know that your friend is confused and that she just wants answers to her many questions. It is true that I know you are not from this world." Avatar Yangchen replied. "And that you are not the only ones who have come here from another world."

Tikaani gaped at Avatar Yangchen in surprise. "You... You know that we're from another dimension? Well, then... Do you know what happens when all of this ends."

"Yes, I do. I know why you are here and how it was possible for you to come here. And I can tell that both of you want to know these things as well. However, I can not reveal this information to you yet. You cannot be concerned about this matter now." Avatar Yangchen paused for a moment. Here eyes were full of wisdom and she looked both of us over. I glared at her angrily. _Why can't she tell us now? Who does she think she is, an avatar? Oh, right..._ "I know you do not understand why I cannot just tell you, but you will understand eventually. As soon as the avatar defeats the Fire Lord and the celebrations are over, I, along with three other avatars, will be able to tell you everything that you want to know."

"But why can't you tell us now?" I pressed, annoyed by Yangchen's refusal to tell us.

"All will soon be revealed. After Sozin's comet. After the Fire Lord has fallen. After the celebrations have ended. Then, you may come back." In another flash of light, Yangchen disappeared and the spirit pool had returned to the clearing.

"Well that was stupid." I grunted breathily. But... I did feel better about things. Yangchen hadn't said anything about us going home after Sozin's Comet. Maybe we wouldn't have to go home at all. That would be awesome. "But I guess I'm just glad that at least we'll eventually find out why we're here. And Yengchan didn't say we would have to go home when this is over."

"It would be nice if we could stay here forever." Tikaani announced. "But that sounds a little too good to be true... Come on, we should probably go back now."

Ryuu's POV:

"Am I the only one who thinks these old ladies are absolutely annoying?" I questioned as Li and Lo started droning on about the defeat of the Earth Kingdom.

"Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's Capital. In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko, and a new boyfriend Ryuu, and together the three of them faced the Avatar..."

"No, they're pretty much the most annoying firebending masters I've ever had." Azula grumbled from where she was standing next to me. The two of us were waiting for Li and Lo to announce us so we could go stand in front of the people.

"And the Avatar fell! And the Earth Kingdom fell!"

"Really? _They_ are your firebending masters?" I already knew that from watching the show, but I had to act surprised. "But they aren't even firebenders."

"Azula's agents quickly overtook the entire city. They went to Ba Sing Se's great walls..."

"I know. That's how I reacted at first. But despite how annoying they are, they know a lot about firebending skills." Azula examined her claw-sharp nails. "Of course there are some techniques you can only learn from the best. I learned how to generate lightning from my father. Perhaps I can teach you."

"And brought them down!"

"I actually already know how to generate lightning. I learned from Iroh while I was traveling with him." As much as it hurt to betray Iroh, I sneered as I mentioned his name. "He's a sick traitor to the Fire Nation... I can't believe I ever traveled with him."

"The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the walls and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory."

"I feel the same way that you do, but insulting him won't help." Azula put her hand on my shoulder, and it almost would have been comforting if her eyes weren't constantly full of malice. "The only way to erase his mistake is to remain ever loyal to the Fire Nation.

"Now the heroes have returned home!"

"I know." I smiled. "Your cue is coming up."

"Your princess, Azula!" As the two of them called Azula's name, she strode confidently forward to face the people of the Fire Nation. I wished I had her confidence. As soon as she arrived at the front, the crowd started cheering.

"After three long years, your prince has returned!"

"Zuko!" Zuko strode forward a little bit less confidently than Azula had. Though the crowd seemed to cheer even louder than they had for Zuko.

"And princess Azula's new boyfriend, who helped her defeat the avatar..."

"Ryuu!" I walked along the dark red carpet until I reached the end of the walk. There were tons of citizens gathered below. They cheered again, but this time much more weakly than they did for Azula and Zuko, probably because none of them had the slightest idea who I was.

Tikaani's POV:

"After what happened in Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety." Sokka explained as we all sat around him eating breakfast. It was the next day and we had decided that we needed to let Aang know about everything that had happened. Now that his head was a lot clearer, we could fully explain everything that was going on. "So we headed back to Chameleon Bay, where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise so he set off alone... Well, not completely alone."

"He took Basco with him." Red explained unnecessarily. "Which is good because all of us were tired of cleaning up after that bear."

"And after that, the bay started getting overrun with Fire Nation ships. It was Sokka's plan to capture one of the ships and use it as a disguise." I did some explaining too, only because it wasn't fair that Sokka got to explain the whole thing.

"Hey! I want to be the explainer guy!" Sokka grumbled. "So shush! Since we got the disguise, we've been traveling west. We crossed through the serpent's pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."

"So what now?" Aang questioned.

"We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan." Hakoda told him.

"It's Sokka's invasion plan." Katara pointed out heatedly.

"Yes... Sokka's plan..." Hakoda repeated disappointedly before continuing. "We won't be able to mount a massive invasion plan without the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable.

"So we're planning a smaller invasion. Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom." Sokka finished, smiling proudly about his plan. "We already ran into Pipsqueak and the Duke."

"Good to see you again, Aang." Pipsqueak greeted in his deep voice.

"And I'm going to get Longshot, Smellerbee, and some other Freedom Fighters to join the invasion plan as well." Jet added, looking important.

"Plus..." I smiled a devilish smile, knowing that this was definitely going to take Aang by surprise. "We have someone on the inside giving us secret information about the Fire Nation."

"What? We do?" Aang looked completely taken by surprise. "Who is it.

"Yup!" I snickered, knowing that he would not be too happy about whose name he was just about to here. "Ryuu."

"WHAT?" Aang's eyes widened in shock. "He's on our side?"

"Yes! And he's my twin brother." I smiled and shrugged at the stunned look still plastered on Aang's face. While I was explaining to him, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and turned my head to see a fire hawk descending. "You missed a lot while you were out. Oh, and speaking of secret information about the Fire Nation, there it is now!" I held out my arm to receive the hawk, but it kept flying and instead landed on Katara's shoulder. _Yup... Always for Katara, as usual._ Katara pulled out the note on the hawk's back, then read it over inside her head. I noticed her blush a little bit as she did so.

"What does it say?" Red asked, also catching Katara's blushing.

"It says 'Don't forget that Admiral Chan, who is in command of the Eastern Fleet, has been on leave for two months on Ember Island. Admiral Lee is filling in for him.' I asked him to send us that information just in case we got stopped by a Fire Nation ship." Katara then rolled up the note. She was still blushing.

"Are you sure that's _all_ that the note said?" I questioned, exchanging a glance with Red. "It says nothing _else_?"

"No. Of course not." She started blushing harder, then turned away from the two of us.

"Ooo, ooo, I FORGOT THE BEST PART!" Sokka exclaimed, suddenly jumping to his feet and doing the happy dance. "The eclipse and the secret information aren't even the best parts..." When Sokka spoke again, he dropped his voice to a whisper. "We have a secret!" He then looked from side to side as if he expected an actual Fire Nation citizen might be listening. "You."

"Me?" Aang asked in confusion, tilting his head.

"Yup! The whole world thinks your dead!" Sokka declared. "Isn't that great?!"

"Way to let that bandage soak and pull it off slowly." Red said sarcastically.

Aang was staring at Sokka with a horrified look. "The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible!"

"No, it's great!" Sokka protested. "It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better, they won't be expecting you on the Day of Black Sun."

"No, no, no, no, no! You have no idea..." Aang shook his head slowly, then closed his eyes in frustration. "This is so messed up!"

"Sokka's right." Jet piped up. "This gives us the advantage on the Fire Nation."

Aang was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a noise as another Fire Nation ship came into view. "I'll handle this. The avatar is back." He flicked out his glider, but then winced in pain. He tried to mount it, but Katara stopped him.

"Aang, wait. Remember, they don't know we're not Fire Nation." She pointed out. Aang put his glider away and looked down at the ground. "And with the information Ryuu sent us, we should be able to get by without a problem."

"Everyone just stay calm." Hakoda announced. Him, Bato, and my dad all put on their Fire Nation helmets as the other Fire Nation ship stopped beside us. "Bato, Darek and I will take care of this."

We quickly hid Appa and Momo under a blanket, then Aang, Katara, Toph, and I retreated below deck. Everyone else was wearing full Fire Nation armor because we hadn't found enough on board for the four of us to wear some too. "I hate not being able to do anything..." Aang growled.

"Hopefully you won't need to." Toph replied.

Thanks to Ryuu's information, we didn't need to do anything. The ship let us pass with no trouble. _Thank you, Ryuu._

Ryuu's POV:

"I don't believe it." I honestly couldn't. "A personal audience with the Fire Lord?"

"Of course. Your lessons have been going great after all." Azula grinned as she informed me of the news. "After all, Admiral Chan responded to your letter just as I had predicted he would. And the other admirals and generals are equally terrified, though none of them have met you. Perhaps now you understand the power of fear?"

"Yes." I nodded slowly, though I didn't think that this talk was going to have anything to do with my threats to the high ranking Fire Nation officials. I had a feeling that this was going to be one of those 'you break my daughter's heart, I break you' conversations. And considering that Azula's father was a Fire Lord who was ruthless enough to scar his own thirteen-year old son and burn an entire continent to the ground, I was absolutely terrified. "Although I think I'll find it difficult not to be afraid of your father."

To that, Azula laughed. "You should be."

"Thanks, that's very reassuring." I replied, smiling. "Which way is the throne room again?"

"We're standing in front of it." Azula replied, smiling one of the few genuine smiles I had seen from her since we had started 'dating.' "I find you amusing, Ryuu."

"Thanks." I smiled back at her. "Best not to keep your father waiting." I took a deep breath and turned, then started walking towards the throne room. The two guard standing out front of the throne room pulled back the curtains to let me through. I walked through the room until I was standing relatively close to the fire, then I got down on my knees and dipped my head in respect to the Fire Lord.

"Ryuu." The Fire Lord said in a deep, venom-filled voice. I was instantly terrified, but I refused to let it show. "Your mother was one of my closest assistants, one of my most trusted advisors. I never could have foreseen her treachery, and after I found out, I gave the order that she should be killed. But not just her. Her two children as well. Yet you managed to escape death, and now, Azula has told me of your newly fledged loyalty for the Fire Nation. She has told me of your feats in Ba Sing Se. You and Azula fought bravely to weaken the avatar, but when you could not, Zuko stepped up to defeat him. Still, Azula holds you in high regards. She is sure that your allegiances rest entirely with the Fire Nation. I, however, am not so easily convinced." I tried to hide all traces of fear, tried to disguise that Fire Lord Ozai was making me uncomfortable. But he saw my weaknesses easily. "Good... good... Let the fear flow through you." I had to stifle a chuckle at that last line because it sounded a heck of a lot like an Emperor Palpatine quote. Luckily, Ozai didn't notice. "And let your fear listen when I tell you this. If you do anything to hurt Azula, I will personally hunt you down and make you feel the pain of a thousand tongues of fire. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Fire Lord Ozai, sir." I barely managed to squeak it out. I don't know a single person in the world who wouldn't be absolutely terrified if they were in my shoes right now.

"Then leave. And know that I will be watching you." I stood to my feet and left the room hastily, but not too hastily.

"Well that went a lot better than I thought it would." Azula announced as soon as I had left the throne room.

I didn't bother to ask her how she knew. Of course she would have been eavesdropping... "Better? What did you think would happen?"

"Well, I thought he might vaporize you right then and there, or at least make your face match Zuko's, but he didn't." Azula immediately started laughing in that super awkward way of hers. I assumed it was a joke, so I laughed along. But on the inside, I was starting to have my doubts.

_Am I really going to be able to pull this off without getting myself killed?_

Red's POV:

"This is outrageous!" I complained angrily as I paced back and forth on the deck of the ship. "So what if Appa has a weight limit? He can handle another person, especially when that person is a twig like Jet!"

"Im sorry, Red." Katara told me apologetically as we prepared to board Appa. We had all just decided that from now until the invasion, we would travel around the Fire Nation on Appa and meet up with the invasion force before the invasion. But apparently, Appa wouldn't be able to handle Jet's extra weight. What kind of ridiculous bologna was that? Did they have any idea how much Jet weighed? He was as skinny as a rail. The stupid thing was, I didn't even need Appa to fly. I could just use Walt. "But Appa can't-"

"This has nothing to do with Appa! You just really don't like Jet!" I ranted on as Katara continued to make me even more and more angry. "For no reason at all, you don't like him. Just because he almost did something stupid, just because he almost did something unspeakably horrible, you are going to cast him aside? He's changed a lot since then, you know!"

"Red's right." Tikaani piped up, obviously on my side of the argument. "You can't keep holding something against Jet that he _almost_ did."

"And when Long Feng took over Jet's mind, he snapped out of it and tried to stop Long Feng." Aang piped up.

"It's not a good idea to bring him along." Sokka argued. "He could snap at any moment."

"I'm with Red." Toph declared. I knew she hadn't talked to Jet much and she didn't know him very well, but she sided with me anyway. I love that chick.

"That's four votes against two." I announced. "Which means Jet is coming with us. And if that's too heavy for Appa, Jet can just ride with me on Walt."

Sokka and Katara exchanged a hesitant look, then they both sighed.

"Okay, fine." Sokka grumbled. "He can come."

"Great. You're a fair man Sokka." I slapped him on the back hard enough to hurt and walked off to go get Jet. He was on the front deck of the ship, looking out over the ocean. "Jet?"

"Red." Jet turned towards me and smiled. "I thought you were leaving to go find Aang."

"Not without you. After we find him, we're going to travel around the Fire Nation." I explained, even though I was sure he already know that. "You're coming with, aren't you?"

"To the Fire Nation?" Jet raised an eyebrow at me and looked back out towards the ocean. "I... I don't know, Red..."

"I thought you had gotten over that!" I exclaimed in astonishment. "When we were in Ba Sing Se, you found out that there are evil people even in some of the best nations. That means that some of the worst nations can also have a little good in them, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but..." Jet continued to look away, out over the ever-changing waters of the sea. "It's kind of hard to forget watching your parents die."

I looked away as he mentioned the death of his parents. Jet... I had never told him who my father was. If he ever found out that my _father_ was the firebender who _killed_ his parents... All of his hatred for firebenders... It might be directed towards me instead.

"I know, Jet, terrible things have happened to me and my past. But even though the Dai Li made my mother forget about me and the Duke, I don't hate all earthbenders." I walked across the deck to stand next to Jet, then reached down and put my hand on his. "Not all firebenders are evil. Iroh helped us save Aang by distracting Azula. Tikaani told me this one guy named Jeong Jeong tried to help Aang learn firebending. And she also told me that a firebender named Shyuu risked his freedom to help Aang escape from Zhao."

"Yeah. I know. But until I actually see it... I think I'll have a hard time believing that any firebender could be good." Jet's gaze fell to where I still had my hand on his. He held it and looked into my eyes.

"Then come with me." I repeated once again. "Let me show you that there are some firebenders who are not evil."

Jet hesitated, then he slowly nodded. "Alright. I'll come."

"Yay!" I excitedly wrapped my arms around him in a hug, then dragged him over to where the others were preparing Appa.

"Took you long enough!" Sokka whined. "We need to go get Aang already!"

Tikaani's POV:

It was pretty easy to find Aang. We knew he couldn't have gone very far because he was injured, so we just flew to the nearest island that there was, which just so happened to be the crescent island with the Roku temple that Aang destroyed a while back.

"You're okay!" Katara cheered as she slid over to Aang and hugged him. The rest of us all ran up to him and gave him a big group hug, except for Jet who stood to the side looking awkward until Red grabbed him and pulled him into the hug too. Then Appa, Momo, and Walt snuggled up really close to us. Muu popped his head out of my bag.

"I have so much to do..." Aang said, looking away.

"I know, but you'll have our help." Katara reassured, smiling a warm smile. Aang returned the smile.

"You didn't think you could get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?" Toph asked, smiling maliciously.

"What about the invasion?" Aang inquired.

"We're going to join up with the invasion force on the day of the eclipse." I explained.

"And until then, we're going to travel the Fire Nation in disguise." Red added. She then elbowed Jet so he would say something too.

"Fun." He muttered. Something in the way he said that word made me think he didn't usually say it that often.

I smiled as I looked at all of us, standing on this rocky beach in a little hugging circle with a giant bison, a lemur, a flying wolf, and a moose lion with saber teeth. It was like some sort of really weird, mixed up family made of benders and non-benders and animals alike. Yeah... We were like a family.


	35. Author's Note:

**Author's Note: **

I have unfortunate news regarding Avatar: The Parallels. The story will be going on a short hiatus until further notice. No, this will not be permanent. The only reason for this hiatus is because I just entered my senior year of high school and I will be having a lot of different activities going on in the next two months.

One of the main reasons for this hiatus is because of my senior project. I've been focusing on writing this fan fictions so much that I haven't had enough time to focus solely on getting my SP done and over with. It's almost finished, but I want to have it done before February, and it's better if I allow myself a lot of time to get it completed.

Furthermore, October is going to be a very busy month for me. First of all, I'm retaking my SATs because my scores weren't high enough to get into the college I want to attend. I'm also visiting my college the week after that, and taking my driver's test the next week. Bottom line, I have a lot going on in October. I might be able to update again in November or December, since that's the goal I'm setting for when I want to have my senior project submitted by.

Now of course I don't want to leave any of you in the dark for that period of time, so I've been thinking about doing a kind of filler chapter for those who don't like having to wait for so long. I've decided to do a Q+A for The Parallels!

Basically, you can ask whatever questions you want to any of the characters, canon or non-canon. (I'll do my best to accurately portray the canon characters, but I see that as one of my weak points...) You can also ask questions directly to me. Of course, there are a few guidelines.

Submit the questions you have via PM. I don't want to be bombarded with reviews. Of course if you have a good reason for not being able to PM me, then you may ask your questions in the reviews.

Make sure to specify who you are asking the questions to.

Keep the questions appropriate.


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